History

Founded in 1996, Reef Check is the world’s largest international coral reef monitoring programme involving volunteer recreational divers and marine scientists.

First carried out on a large scale in 1997, it provided the first solid evidence that coral reefs have been damaged on a global scale. The survey raised the awareness of scientists, governments, politicians and the general public about the value of coral reefs, threats to their health and solutions to coral reef problems.

In August 2002, Reef Check released its five-year report, The Global Coral Reef Crisis – Trends and Solutions. Based on data collected in over 80 countries, the report was the first scientific documentation of the dramatic worldwide decline in coral reef health over the previous five years. The rate of decline and the global extent of the damage are alarming. There is virtually no reef in the world that remains untouched by human impacts, such as over fishing, pollution and climate change. Yet the success stories discussed in the report show that, with proper monitoring, management and protection, our coral reefs can recover. It is up to us.

Today, Reef Checks are conducted annually at sites around the world, in order to continually monitor the state of the world’s reefs. Reef Check teams have been sponsored by a number of large corporations and have worked with many businesses in tourism, diving, surfing and the marine aquarium trade, to develop mutually beneficial solutions – including the creation of self-funding Marine Protected Areas.

Our aims

• Educate the public and governments about the value of coral reefs and the crisis facing them
• Create a global network of volunteer teams, trained and led by scientists, that regularly monitor and report on reef health using a standard method
• Facilitate collaborative use of reef health information by community groups, governments, universities and businesses to design and implement ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions
• Stimulate local action to protect remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged reefs worldwide

Our needs

• Volunteers (divers and non-divers)
• Internships
• Donations

Upcoming events:

• Annual education programme- “Rainforest to Reef”
• Annual EcoDiver survey programme
• Reef Rehabilitation maintenance and monitoring

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Reef Check