Between 2009 and 2018, the world lost about 14% of its coral reefs, due to the rising sea temperature. That is more than the size of all of Australia’s reefs combined. Let’s think about that for a second…
Marine conservation company, Livingseas Asia in collaboration with Water WorxX dive centre invites every one of us to contribute in the movement of supporting coral reef conservation and preservation through a campaign “Dive 1 Give 1”.
With the fact that coral reefs—which occupy less than one percent of the ocean floor around the world—are threatened by global warming, overfishing, pollution, coral mining and aquarium trade, the urge to raise awareness is beyond intense.
This campaign, which was launched at the Coral Reef Awareness Day event held on June 1st 2022 at BWork, Canggu, Bali, was attended by media colleagues. Livingseas Founder Leon Boey and Water WorxX’ co-owner Claudia Koch hosted the event together to raise awareness about the issue to the public in general.
By doing the “Dive One Give One” campaign. a participant will get a reef star planted on their behalf in the following month. A reef star itself is a 3D hexagonal structure made from metal that has been coated with a mixture of resin and sand, which is replicating coral’s natural substrate in the ocean and functions to stimulate more coral growth on the ocean floor.
Running from June 2022 to December 2022, the campaign offers participants a diving experience, as well as the opportunity to support coral reef conservation efforts.
However, if you are interested in actually partaking and planting the reef star yourself, Livingseas Asia has another programme that allows you to do so. For this programme, an advance booking of two weeks is required.
Claudia Koch, who is also a diving instructor for almost 10 years said that we don’t have time to wait for the government’s or the world’s decisions. If we don’t act immediately, we will have a problem. “So, my perspective on diving has changed from merely a fun activity to a sustainability effort,” says Koch.
The conservation efforts will not stop at the event, but will continue through three main outputs. Anyone who wants to support the cause can donate on a monthly subscription through Livingseas Asia’s website, come dive or learn how to dive and give back a reef star, or even collaborate with Livingseas Asia through skill sharing or sponsorship.
“We really hope this event will be the start of something big. Living in Bali, we don’t realise that there are rich reefs all along the east coast of Bali. It’s truly something to behold, and it’s a shame that many people don’t know about it, or get the chance to see it before it’s all gone,” explained Leon Boey.
Check out how the coral reefs are being restored and how our involvement can lead to a great change in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN1bJSB2o30
To encourage more people to participate, the event offers 10 percent off any dive trip or course to guests who sign up on the spot during the event.
Follow Livingseas Asia’s Instagram page for further information and updates.
