[Coral-List] Education of the masses

Jim Hendee Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov
Fri Jul 25 18:32:36 EDT 2008


And don't forget Reef Fest, an official IYOR event! 

The Reef Rally at 11ICRS (and before then), and at another Reef Fest 
event last week, have ended up spawning other Reef Fest events (planned) 
to spread the coral conservation word:  Virgina Key Park (Miami), Texas 
(Fort Worth, August 23), Belize, Amsterdam, Colorado, the Florida Keys 
(at least 3 events hoped for during Reef Week, April, 2009), and more.  
When these events happen, people have come up to me and asked what they 
can do, have offered me their business cards, and pledged support 
(boats, expertise on artificial reefs, diving for monitoring, all kinds 
of stuff).  This is definitely an unconventional approach, but if the 
goal is to get the word out and to gather troops in the battle, I would 
submit to you that it is working, and that every foot solider, if you 
will,  helps.  Also, Reef Fest continues beyond IYOR 2008.

Anyway, if anybody is interested in adopting this approach, check out 
www.reeffest.org and click on the Participate link.  (The blurb on the 
Texas event is there [thank you Laura Hunt!], while the other events are 
still in various stages of finalizing...)  Or, contact Erin Motil directly.

    Cheers,
    Jim

Francis Staub wrote:
> Dear Antares:
>
> All your suggestions are good ideas and as you mentioned the problem is
> funding. However, I'd like to let you know that several organizations
> already developed some very good materials (and very similar with what you
> are mentioning). Also, for those who attended the last ICRS and visited the
> education center, I am sure you were surprised by the number of existing
> materials. Thus, I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel and develop
> more material, we just need o work together and better disseminate the
> existing one. You will find below some examples of existing materials or
> "mass media" outreach campaigns (most of them were done as a contribution to
> the International Year of the Reef 2008):
>
> * The NOAA Coral Reef Public Service Announcement Poster Project: this
> Public Service Announcement Poster Project was designed to create a public
> affinity for the long-term conservation of coral reefs and to educate reef
> tourists and user groups. The Poster Project incorporates billboards and
> bus-stop posters, as well as "duratrans" and "spectaculars" (images
> displayed in international airports), in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Miami,
> Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (these posters were created through
> a grant from the Coral Reef Conservation Fund of NOAA and the National Fish
> and Wildlife Foundation). More info at:
> http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/outreach/protect/welcome.html. I also posted
> some images of the billboards on the following link
> http://www.iyor.org/corallist.asp
>
> * In Brazil, at some airports, billboards are displaying coral reef
> information for tourists (http://www.iyor.org/corallist.asp)
>
> * As part of the International Year of the Reef campaign, the Honolulu
> Advertiser distributed a newsprint version of The Living Reef, as a 28-page
> primer on Hawaii's coral reefs and their environmental, economic, cultural
> and recreational values as well as the threats to them. Content for the
> insert was provided by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and was produced in
> cooperation with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
> (NOAA), and the State of Hawai'i, Dept of Land & Natural Resources, Division
> of Aquatic Resources (DAR). The Living Reef insert went out to all 150,000
> Advertiser subscribers statewide and an additional 20,000 to schools and
> teachers (http://www.iyor.org/focalpoints/countries/hi/)
>
> * In France (in Paris), billboards in the metro station have information
> about a Coral Reef exhibit being currently held at the Aquarium of Porte
> Doree.
>
> * NOAA, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, UrbanArts Institute at
> Mass College of Art and other Marine and Ocean Conservation NGOs supported
> the production and distribution of a series of 30 second TV PSAs to educate
> the US public concerning ocean-coral reef and coastal environmental
> education. The main message is "Whether you live one mile or one thousand
> miles from a coral reef, your actions affect the reefs' future and the
> reefs' future affects yours. As the natural guardians of our shores, reefs
> play a vital role in our global ecosystem. With climate change, pollution,
> and overfishing contributing to coral reef degradation, we can all play a
> role in protecting our land, sea and sky. And all it takes is a few simple
> changes to your daily routine." (all the PSAs are available at:
> www.iyor.org/tv) 
>
> These PSAs are or will be broadcast on several major channels/networks. For
> example:
>
> - LA TV (National Rotation of all PSAs started on July 26, 2008, in English
> and Spanish)
> - Discovery Channel (the short 15 second version of the IYOR Main Message is
> broadcast nationally on all Discovery TV Networks. The 30 Second Spanish
> version of the main messages is broadcast on the Discovery Channel Latina.
> The PSAs are will be broadcasted for the next 6 months)
> - From August 15 - 21, the main IYOR 30 second PSA  will be screened before
> each film at AMC Loews Georgetown Movie Theatre (Washington, DC) . 
>
> This is just a glimpse of what is currently happening during the ICRI
> International Year of the Reef. A lot of other countries have outreach
> campaign on TV, Radio and press. For more information, please visit:
> www.iyor.org 
>
> Best,
>
> Francis
>
>
> Francis Staub
> ICRI IYOR Coordinator
> c/o AJH Environmental Services 
> 4900 Auburn Avenue - Suite 201 
> Bethesda, MD 20814 
>
> http://www.iyor.org 
> http://www.icriforum.org
> Support the International Year of the Reef 2008: www.nfwf.org/iyor
>
>
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>   



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