Green Fins Global Hub: Taking Conservation to the Digital World
Photo by Martijn Baudoin
Scientists are developing digital solutions to solve many of the world’s pressing issues and marine conservationists are no exception. We are delighted to introduce a new project launched by the The Reef-World Foundation: Green Fins Global Hub. It is a digital global solution to help dive professionals protect fragile coral reefs.
In partnership with the UN Environment Programme, The Reef-World Foundation currently implements Green Fins, an initiative that promotes environmentally friendly diving and snorkelling practices across the industry. Traditionally, Green Fins conduct on-site environmental assessments and training to educate tourism operators on the ways to reduce environmental threats posed by the marine tourism industry, and Green Fins’ conservation approach has already been adopted in 11 countries.
As human resources and time constraints limit Green Fins from reaching many more marine tourism operators worldwide, a novel and digital approach is needed to protect coral reefs on a global scale.
The Green Fins Global Hub is an online support system that empowers marine tourism businesses with the knowledge to minimise environmental impacts associated with their everyday operations.
Tourism industry professionals will learn to identify prominent environmental threats related to their operations and receive support to implement evidence-based sustainability practices such as responsible waste management measures to address these issues. The Global Hub will also provide action plans, resources, and user forums to support tourism operators in the first steps of their sustainability journey.
When the Global Hub is developed, The Reef-World Foundation anticipates to reach over 48,000 dive and snorkel guides across 100 coral reef countries and educate them on ways to make their trips more sustainable. The potential environmental impact is huge when we take into consideration the 171 million tourists who visit coral reef sites every year. As we continue to reduce local threats to coral reefs, they will be healthier and have a better chance of surviving climate change impacts.
The Reef-World Foundation has been shortlisted as a finalist in 2020’s Con X Tech Prize and provided with seed funding to help develop this digital sustainability solution in a 12-week prototyping period. We can’t wait to see what the final product would look like!
Green Fins, an initiative that Divegraphy proudly supports. If you would like to support Green Fins’ work, you may consider making a donation so that they can work with more communities, governments, and companies to promote sustainable marine tourism. We recommend to check out their website to stay up-to-date with their conservation initiatives.
