[Coral-List] BioClout

[Jim Hendee]

Referring back to the previous discussions on Resiliency, etc., and Phil 
Dustan's plea for 8 to 10 salient points of discussion/attack, and 
further comments that a strong group or person should organize to make 
their case known to the Great Decision Makers (of various colors and 
ilk), I thought it interesting to identify one apparently powerful group 
that may prove instructive  in its approach.  I'm not specifically 
endorsing this group (Natural Resources Defense Council), I'm just 
pointing out that the approach seems to have proven effective to their 
cause, in case you want to study it.  Similar efforts are of course 
undertaken by other conservation-oriented groups, such as The Nature 
Conservancy, Audubon Society, Conservation International, etc., whom I 
also do not specifically endorse (but they're doing a great job!), and I 
would encourage them to speak up if they feel so inclined.  Just trying 
to focus here, folks:  I am NOT petitioning to lobby, just trying to 
help steer coral conservation FACTS towards decision makers, who may not 
necessarily be governmental.  If an effort was made to concentrate on 
ONE particular reef area to fight for (e.g., a "BioGem" of sorts [see 
below]), it might make focusing efforts a little more effective if 
coral-listers approached one of the groups that has large experience on 
the front lines.  With success there, the 8-10 points gets more exposure 
as a general theme of problems worldwide, then the torch is carried 
forth by the millions more who know, and the next endangered area is 
identified, etc.  [By the way, I appreciate Mike Risk's tenuous 
nomination of me to carry the flag, but it should be obvious that in my 
capacity as a government employee, I can't do that.  Besides, I'm not 
sexy... :) ]

 From their NRDC-related Web page at www.biogems.org:

BIOGEMS DEFENDERS HIT NEW MILESTONE
 
Rallying to protect endangered wildlands from the Arctic to the southern 
tip of Chile, BioGems Defenders have sent more than 7 million messages 
since the launch of the NRDC BioGems Initiative in 2001. In the past 
eight months alone, BioGems Defenders sent more than a million messages 
-- helping to block massive oil development in the Arctic Refuge, as 
well as to secure permanent protection for the rainforest home of the 
rare white Spirit Bear and to ensure a future for the highly endangered 
vaquita marina, a small porpoise found only in Mexico's Upper Gulf of 
California.