Contact: Florence Depondt, The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL)
Phone: (415) 834-0900 ext. 313
E-mail: divein@coral.org [1]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - March 23, 2006 - It’s time to take the plunge. Join tens of thousands of Dive In To Earth Day participants and actively protect threatened aquatic environments worldwide. Every April 22, environmentally-conscious dive operators, park managers, schools, and many other water lovers celebrate Earth Day by Diving In and organizing hands-on, educational conservation events. Exciting Dive In activities are being planned this year in close to 90 countries and territories, including beach and underwater cleanups in Taiwan, the USA, and India; educational activities for children in Panama, Aruba, and Poland; coral reef school field trips in Thailand; reef surveys in the Philippines and the Cook Islands; mooring buoy installations in Fiji; and much, much more!

“I am proud to say that I am a part of Dive In To Earth not only because it promotes community involvement in protecting our underwater world,” explains Host Committee member Stan Waterman, “but it also bonds these communities closer together in protecting something that effects our everyday lives. The eagerness of Dive In organizers and their thousands of participants gives us great confidence that we are making a difference in the health of our coral reefs and other fragile marine environments.”

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) launched Dive In To Earth Day in 2000 to remind Earth Day celebrants that the 72 percent of the planet covered by water requires urgent attention. Dive In has become a huge driving force for environmental awareness and has involved thousands of participants in active marine conservation, helping raise awareness of the need for protection of local environments around the world. This international marine conservation event now generates 24percent of all registered international Earth Day activities, engaging communities in more than 103 countries and territories. The number of participants has grown exponentially from 5,000 in 2,000 to a staggering 75,000 in 2005, and even more participants are anticipated for Dive In 2006 with the realization that Dive In is having a positive and long-lasting impact on aquatic ecosystems worldwide.

“Our Dive In To Earth Day event was such a big success last year, everyone had so much fun and it made a real positive impact on the local marine environment,” says Dive In organizer Georgina of Starfleet Scuba in Panama. “This year we are going to organize something bigger and better and try to engage the whole community.” Starfleet Scuba is organizing an exciting series of Dive In 2006 events, including an underwater, town, and beach cleanup anticipated to gather 400 participants from local schools, the police and fire brigade, and local government officials, as well as giving talks at local schools on the importance of protecting the environment.

For more information on Dive In and how you can participate, please visit us at www.coral.org [2]. The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is a nonprofit coral reef conservation organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, dedicated to protecting the health of coral reefs by integrating ecosystem management, sustainable tourism, and community partnerships. CORAL coordinates Dive In To Earth Day in partnership with Project AWARE Foundation (www.projectaware.org [3]) and with the support of Earth Day Network and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN).