As there are thousands of issues concerning the marine environment and thousands of solutions, OceansWatch has chosen to start with something that the Marine Biologists on our team are certain will be of benefit.
Having looked carefully at Reef Check they are happy that the science is good and the results meaningful and of value.
Reef Check is a system of monitoring reef health with particular reference to the effects of pollution, over-fishing, and the aquarium and curio trade. The Reef Check scientists have chosen their indicator species carefully to measure these pressures on the reef. The results go into an international database accessible by anyone and Reef Check regularly report on the state of the world's reefs.It was important for us that it was relatively simple for members to be able to help in a meaningful way and we feel that Reef Check fulfills our criteria.
This year we are running a training programme in Tonga, but our ultimate aim is to run them in different locations worldwide. Once trained, members will be able to help out on the 2008 projects in Tonga, Vanuatu and PNG, with the possibility of more in Fiji and the Solomon Islands. (NB We can only work in countries defined as "developing" by the UN.)