So if you have been following the blog you have heard us talk about the main causes of coral reef destruction that is taking place. One of the things we have failed to really touch on though is how interconnected our lives as humans are with our coral reefs. We are all part of something much greater and we both have substantial effects on one another. Recently I have been checking out ReefBase and Reefutures which are incredible websites that are really taking the idea of “Save Our Coral” to heart and have stepped it up to another level.
ReefBase
Maybe they stepped it up a few more levels – to a more scientific approach, much of which I could only wish to understand. In essence, these people are amazingly smart, educated, passionate and dedicated to really figuring out what is wrong with our coral reefs and more importantly, what can be done to save them. Their site is filled with databases, photos, and maps, which I found the most interesting.
ReefGIS Screen Shot
These are more than maps, and you have to check it out! They call it their online Geographic Information System or ReefGIS, which is an interactive map of the coral reefs of the entire world! The map shows all coral reefs in gray and then you can narrow the your search by:
- location
- coral disease
- coral bleaching
- marine protected
- many more
This interactive map is really amazing and I found myself spending a lot of time checking it out because there is so much to learn from it – and its all visual learning, which I prefer, as opposed to reading.
Reefuture
Along with ReefBase, I also want to urge you to check out Reefutures, which is a group of equally smart and tech savvy individuals who are part of the Modeling and Decision Support group for the Coral Reef Targeted Research program, or CRTR MDS for short 
! This group is composed of international scientists who specialize in math, economics, computer science, and social sciences. What they found when studying the reefs is that:
- Every reef impacts another
- Every human community impacts another
- Every reef impacts human communities
- Every human community impacts a reef
While this may seem trivial, it is important because our fates are linked to each other. By destroying one reef, another reef is impacted. Then the communities who’s economies depend on the reefs suffer, furthering the neglect which ends of impacting more reefs and more people. It is another vicious cycle. Reefutures says we must:
- Attack all problems simultaneously
- Understand how local problems affect global problems and vice versa
- Understand how social and economic problems affect biological and physical problems and vice versa
- Explore the effects of different management strategies on all problems
- Allow managers to learn and adapt
In order to do this, Reefutures has created a program, available at www.gefcoral.org, which breaks down the reefs and the interaction they have with humans and how they are related.
Ultimately, although it may seem a bit technical, I really urge you to check out ReefBase’s ReefGIS, and the information behind Reefutures CRTR MDS because it is really amazing work!
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