Published on Coral Reef Alliance (http://www.coral.org)
July 2012 E-Current


Reef Scene, Fiji [1]
E-Current
July 2012		 In this Issue: Photo Contest Winner [2] • CORAL at Rio+20 [3] • Protecting Coral with Plarn [4] • Critter Quiz Winner Announced [5]

Featured Location: Fiji [6]
CORAL in Scuba Diving Magazine
Namena Scene CORAL's work in Fiji's Kubulau District was featured in the July 2012 issue of Scuba Diving magazine! The article—Anchors Away—discusses how CORAL's partnership with the Kubulau community both benefits the local economy and protects the region's valuable marine resources, including the Namena Marine Reserve.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kubulau's coral reefs and associated fisheries were threatened by uncontrolled commercial fishing. To safeguard their ancestral fishing ground and vital natural resource, chiefs from each of Kubulau's ten villages banded together and approached CORAL—a longtime conservation partner—for assistance. Together, CORAL, the Kubulau community, and several other key partners devised lasting strategies to protect Namena's remarkable coral reefs, diversify the local economy, and build the capacity to manage these efforts well into the future.
Download PDF of the Article [7] »
Learn More About our Work in Fiji [8]»

 

>   Help the Reefs Quick Tip
Want to stay up-to-date with the latest happenings at ICRS 2012? Follow us [9] on Twitter and "like [10]" us on Facebook, and we'll keep you in the loop!


Coral Reefs in the News [11]

US Official: Higher Ocean Acidity is Climate Change's 'Evil Twin,' Major Threat to Coral Reefs [12]
Source: The Washington Post

Great Barrier Reef Experts Blast Federal Coalition Plans to Axe Carbon Tax [13]
Source: Herald Sun

Coral Rebounded From Hostile Climate Milenniums Ago, Study Suggests [14]
Source: New York Times

Chinese Government to Take Shark Fin Soup Off Menu [15]
Source: Asian Scientist

Gov. Quinn Bans Shark Fins [16]
Source: East Peoria Times Courier

More News... [17]


Frogfish [18]
 
Summertime ... and the Living Is Easy ... [19] »
Summer's here (for those of us in the northern hemisphere, anyway!), and while that means vacations and bathing suits for many of us, for coral reefs it can mean stress in the form of warmer waters, lots of visitors, and even hurricanes. Help CORAL increase the resilience of reefs worldwide—so they can better combat these stresses—by making a gift [20] to our conservation initiatives today.

[21] Photo Contest Winner Announced [22]
Congratulations to William Goodwin, who is this month's winner of the E-Current Photo Contest! William encountered this charming frogfish (Antennarius sp.) pair while diving in the Lembeh Strait, off the northern tip of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. The fantastic shot was captured using a Sony Cybershot DSC-WX1 camera with a Bonica video lamp for front illumination and a UK Light Cannon for backlight. Click below to download William's image as your desktop wallpaper and to learn how you can enter upcoming photo contests.
Download the Photo [23] » [24]
   
[25] UNCSD/Rio+20 Highlights CORAL's Work in Honduras [26]
Twenty years after the inaugural Earth Summit, thousands of governments, international institutions, and NGOs returned to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to shape a global strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD; also known as the Rio+20 Earth Summit)—held from June 20 to 22—focused on two themes: a green economy and the institutional framework for sustainable development. CORAL's efforts to cultivate sustainable sea marine tourism in Honduras—protecting the nearby communities and adjacent coral reef ecosystems—were identified as global best practice strategies by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in an issue brief.
Read the Rio+20 Issue Brief Here [27] »
   
[28] Protecting Coral With Plarn [29]
Inspired by the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef [30] project, the 2011-2012 sixth grade class at The Pennington School in Pennington, NJ, crafted their own woven reef. Instead of using traditional yarn, the creative sixth-graders created plarn—plastic yarn—from plastic bags and other debris to encourage discussion about the impact of plastic waste on our oceans. Pennington's plastic reef was on display this spring, and proceeds from the exhibit were donated to CORAL. In 2010, CORAL co-sponsored the Smithsonian Community Reef, a satellite installation of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the National Museum of Natural History, so we are particularly impressed by this project, knowing what it took to put it together.
[31]Learn More About The Pennington School's Reef [32] »
   
[33] Critter Quiz Winner Announced! [34]
Congratulations to Janet Czapski from Michigan for winning CORAL's Critter Quiz! Janet correctly identified the coral reef critter in the cryptic image as a soft coral crab (Hoplophrys oatesii); her entry was selected randomly from all correct submissions. Janet will receive an authentic Fiji rugby shirt for successfully identifying the camouflaged crustacean.
Did you miss our Critter Quiz? Follow us on Facebook [35] and Twitter [36] to get updates on future quizzes and other opportunities to win fun prizes! »
   

 

* Photo Credits and Notes:
Banner Photo: Reef scene, Fiji
Photographer: Nancy Sefton
Large Center Photo: Frogfish (Antennarius sp.) in Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Photographer: William Goodwin
Left Side Photo: Namena Marine Reserve, Fiji
Photographer: Jeff Yonover
Thumbnails: 1) William Goodwin; 2) ©2012 Google 3) The Pennington School; 4) Jeff Yonover

 

 

 

© 2012 The Coral Reef Alliance 351 California Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA, 1-888-CORAL-REEF info@coral.org
Source URL (retrieved on 05/21/2013 - 20:54): http://www.coral.org/node/5954

Links:
[1] http://www.coral.org
[2] http://www.coral.org/node/5954#story1
[3] http://www.coral.org/node/5954#story2
[4] http://www.coral.org/node/5954#story3
[5] http://www.coral.org/node/5954#story4
[6] http://www.coral.org/where_we_work/asia/pacific/fiji
[7] http://www.coral.org/files/pdf/Namena_SCD0712_OceanPlanet.pdf
[8] http://www.coral.org/where_we_work/asia/pacific/fiji
[9] http://www.coral.org/node/5954#!/coral_org
[10] https://www.facebook.com/coralreefalliance
[11] http://www.coral.org/news/headlines
[12] http://www.coral.org/node/5952
[13] http://www.coral.org/node/5953
[14] http://www.coral.org/node/5950
[15] http://www.coral.org/node/5947
[16] http://www.coral.org/node/5945
[17] http://www.coral.org/news/headlines
[18] http://www.coral.org/wallpaper
[19] https://coral.secure.force.com/donate
[20] https://coral.secure.force.com/donate
[21] http://www.coral.org/wallpaper
[22] http://www.coral.org/wallpaper
[23] http://www.coral.org/wallpaper
[24] http://www.coral.org/wallpaper
[25] http://www.uncsd2012.org/index.php?page=view&type=12&nr=215&menu=45
[26] http://www.uncsd2012.org/index.php?page=view&type=12&nr=215&menu=45
[27] http://www.uncsd2012.org/index.php?page=view&type=12&nr=215&menu=45
[28] http://sites.google.com/a/pennington.org/reef/
[29] http://sites.google.com/a/pennington.org/reef/
[30] http://crochetcoralreef.org
[31] https://sites.google.com/a/pennington.org/reef/
[32] https://sites.google.com/a/pennington.org/reef/
[33] http://www.facebook.com/coralreefalliance
[34] http://www.coral.org/what_you_can_do%2523Online
[35] https://www.facebook.com/coralreefalliance
[36] http://www.coral.org/node/5954#!/coral_org