Conservation
Coral reef restorationConservationists around the world are fighting to repair the damage to coral reef systems. Divers are using corals that have been nurtured in underwater nurseries, to glue damaged reefs back together again [15]. Conservationists rescue any living coral colonies that are left from ship groundings and they graft the rescued polyps back onto the reef using a safe adhesive [15].
Fig. 6 Reef ball structure being loaded into the water.
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Concrete hemispheres consisting of large holes, measuring a metre across are also being used as an attempt to provide a solid structure for corals to colonise [15]. These structures are called Reef Balls (Fig. 6 & Fig. 7), and they can be used when reefs are too severely damaged to repair. Artificial reefs of many different shapes and sizes are being used, as are various other forms of restoration ideas. The Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) (http://coralrestoration.org) is a "nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to creating offshore nurseries and restoration programs for threatened coral species", and their website has more information regarding coral reef restoration.
Fig 7. Reef ball structure after 8 years, showing numerous coral colonies.
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Education and awareness
In order to eliminate the potential threats to coral reefs, improved education and awareness amongst ecotourists is essential. Tourists may not be aware of the ecological consequences and the potential damage to the environment that they are causing.
Many dive companies offer unlimited, unsupervised day and night diving, but divers should be managed and supervised . Diver- induced damage to reefs could be minimised by identifying and directing use to sites that are resistant to damage, promoting minimal impact diving behaviour and matching diver competence to dive conditions [1, 21].
Continued government engagement with police legislation and environmental management should help to reduce the impacts of recreational boating, cruise ship tourism and pollution, and climate change is a problem that most people are already aware of. Global efforts are in place to help minimise the effects of human- induced climate change and we are all responsible for contributing to this these efforts. More information on climate change can be found on various websites such as those of organisations such as NASA (http://climate.nasa.gov).
Many dive companies offer unlimited, unsupervised day and night diving, but divers should be managed and supervised . Diver- induced damage to reefs could be minimised by identifying and directing use to sites that are resistant to damage, promoting minimal impact diving behaviour and matching diver competence to dive conditions [1, 21].
Continued government engagement with police legislation and environmental management should help to reduce the impacts of recreational boating, cruise ship tourism and pollution, and climate change is a problem that most people are already aware of. Global efforts are in place to help minimise the effects of human- induced climate change and we are all responsible for contributing to this these efforts. More information on climate change can be found on various websites such as those of organisations such as NASA (http://climate.nasa.gov).
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