OUR GOAL
What drives us
WHY ARE CORALS ESSENTIAL?
Coral reefs are not only stunningly beautiful and colorful, but they also serve as a source of inspiration for people all over the world - ever since the release of the movie "Finding Nemo". However, in addition to their aesthetic appeal, corals play a crucial role in our planet's ecosystem that is often overlooked by many.
Marine Habitat
Coral reefs are complex marine ecosystems. They are the biotope (habitat) for a community of marine plants and animals, such as worms, mollusks, sponges, echinoderms, crustaceans, and of course fishes. Coral reefs are of great importance as "nurseries" for pelagic fish.
Coastal Protection
As breakwaters, tropical coral reefs play an important role in coastal protection. For the local population, they act as a natural barrier against storm waves and tsunamis, while also protecting the coast from erosion.
Food Resources
A coral reef that has died is unable to sustain any marine life. It becomes a barren and lifeless land. Coastal communities live from fishing. Provided that fishing practices are controlled, fishermen in the open sea depend on coral reefs. Without corals - no fish.
Carbon Storage
Marine ecosystems play a crucial role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Marine life, including fish, is an essential component of the marine carbon cycle, which is necessary for carbon storage. In fact, fish are estimated to account for 16% of the total carbon flux. But without corals - no fish.
Even if they look like it, corals are no plants, but animals. Like jellyfish, they belong to the genus of cnidarians, and there are many hundreds of species of them. Unlike most other animals, corals cannot move around, but always remain in one place. There they live together with many other corals in so-called colonies.
They filter their food from the water: tiny nutrients and elements.
WHAT ARE THE THREATS TO CORAL REEFS?
Coral reefs are anything but healthy. Our planet has already lost around half of its shallow-water corals in the last three decades. If coral extinction continues at this rate, up to 90 percent of all corals will have disappeared in less than 30 years. And that would be far more dramatic for the world than just a few less coral videos on social media.
Climate Change and Acidification
Due to the rise in water temperature worldwide, corals are losing the algae with which they live in symbiosis and are bleaching. This alone has caused global coral populations to decline by around 20 percent in the last two decades. The second major problem is that the oceans are becoming more acidic, as they absorb around 30% of the world's CO2. The gas reacts to form carbonic acid and the pH value of the water drops - a danger for organisms that build their shells and skeletons from calcium carbonate: Corals become fragile and break off more quickly with the increase in extreme weather.
Destructive Fishing
Fisheries are increasingly using nets that roll across the seabed like bulldozers with their rollers and plates. Intact coral reefs that have grown over centuries can be destroyed within a very short space of time, turning into wasteland devoid of life.
Dynamite fishing - long since banned in large parts of Indonesia - destroys brightly colored reefs in underwater deserts in a fraction of a second. Anchor damage caused by negligent fishermen leaves healthy reefs as cratered landscapes. As a result, the habitat for animals is becoming increasingly scarce.
Pollution of the Oceans
Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, detergents, wastewater, oil and vast quantities of plastic particles and other solids are turning our oceans into a landfill. Around 675 tons of waste end up in the sea every hour, half of which is plastic and the resulting microplastics. Most of this waste (80%) comes from land and enters the sea via rivers. But maritime traffic also contributes. This pollution not only damages the health of all organisms in the ocean, but also increases the growth of algae, which clouds the water and deprives corals of the sunlight they need.
Leisure Activities
Our behavior in the ocean during activities such as snorkeling or simply swimming in the sea after sunbathing damages corals immensely. A component of many sunscreens turns into a light-activated toxin in coral polyps. This phototoxin is particularly harmful to corals that are already affected by bleaching.
Divers with inadequate buoyancy control destroy corals or stir up the substrate so that sand suffocates the sensitive coral polyps.
"People who come up with a new idea are considered cranks,
until the idea has caught on."
Mark Twain
VISION IS THE ART OF SEEING WHAT IS INVISIBLE TO OTHERS.
Restoring a marine ecosystem is possible.
If we can work together to convince more people to get out of their protective attitude and become active, the ocean has a chance!
What began as a leisure activity has turned into a passion and measurable success. Sometimes it is only a question of action and perseverance, against all odds, that leads to success.
WHAT ONE PERSON CANNOT DO ALONE, MANY CAN TOGETHER
We restore, preserve and renew coral reefs every day of the month, every month of the year. Thousands of people like you help us in our mission, for which we are very grateful.
We rely on donations to continue building the reef and marine biodiversity.
Every single Reef Star makes a difference - become a part of Livingseas Reef and support us today!
