Sustainable Resort Programs – turning tourism into a tool for reef preservation
Of the 109 countries with coral reefs, 90 of them are being damaged due to tourism (The International Ecotourism Society, 2009).
Our core belief: tourism can be a tool for reef preservation.
>>Click here to download our sustainable tourism brochure outlining how we can assist you.
On this page you'll find:
Tourism as a Tool for Reef Preservation
Services to Match your Resort
Training Available
Roy to the Rescue - kids activities
Reefs are like Cities
Tourism as a Tool for Reef Preservation
We are excited about the opportunities this presents!
We can help you ‘turn the tide’ so tourism becomes a tool for coral reef preservation rather than its adversary.
With the added bonus of exceeding guest expectations and making a positive contribution to the local environment.
Our strategy includes combining best business practices with leading reef restoration techniques to create a sustainable operation for your resort - and happy reefs, happy guests!
Our Team have designed and run marine ecotour programs or reef conservation programs in Australia, Mauritius, Thailand and Cayman Islands.
Services to Match Your Resort
Each resort and situation is unique, however examples of services we provide include:
- Needs and Opportunity Analysis to determine program options and budgets that match your resort, objectives and resources
- Design and implementation of reef conservation programs
- Adopt-a-Coral programs and sustainable coral nurseries
- Marine EcoTour Guide training
- Marine Ed programs for schools
- Marine Protected Areas – consultation and setup
>> Click here to download our sustainable tourism program brochure.
Training Available!
We have three training modules specifically designed for community programs, dive centres, volunteers and tourists that want to reduce impacts to reefs and facilitate recovery.
Our Reef Recovery Program is customised to suit your specific application and objectives and we can help you determine the most important priorities for your area.
Module 1 - Identifying and reducing existing reef impacts
Module 2 - Implementing actions that help natural recruitment and recolonisation by coral
Module 3 - Assist recovery by transplanting and/or propagating corals
>> Contact us now to discuss your training needs.
Roy to the Rescue!
As part of our contribution to World Oceans Day and the theme of 'Youth: the Next Wave for Change' we are excited to introduce three enthusiastic volunteers that want to share with kids important messages regarding reef restoration and how to help keep our reefs healthy and more resistant to climate change.
Designed for resort programs, marine ed centres, community groups and schools, the Activities can be downloaded and copied and used as you wish. We will be continually working on new Activities and welcome your input.
The three volunteers are:
Roy Sharpie a long spined urchin (Diadema antillarum)
Aristotle Acropora Amadeus (Ari) a branching coral who likes the finer things in life
Barry the Boulder Coral (Bazzer) who is big, lived a long time and key building block in the reef
Activity #1: the value of urchins on the reef
This first Activity is simple but includes a very important message.
Congratulations to Jamie Raymundo from the Philippines!
Jamie is 4 and she's the first person to make Ari and Roy smile by giving them some colour. Well done Jamie!
Elwood Primary, Grade 1 (Australia) invite Ari, Roy and Bazzer to their class!
And have a great time colouring them in, working out the maze and learning about their important role on the reef.
Rishabh, age 7
Finn, age 7
Chloe, age 7
Charlie tackles the maze to help Roy get to Ari to help him with his algae problem! age 7
Reefs are like Cities
We view healthy reefs (including constructed reefs) as underwater cities.
They provide a diverse range of opportunities for marine life, a variety of food and a range of nooks and crannies for the various inhabitants that are essential to create a rich and diverse ecosystem.
Unfortunately coastal development in many countries is turning these diverse and rich cities into slums.
Underwater slums that provide limited opportunity, limited diversity, a limited range of food and poor quality refuge.
We provide the technology and strategies to help restore these 'slums' and reduce further degradation of reefs. We believe tourism can be a tool for reef preservation rather than reef degradation.
Contact us now to discuss how we can help.
In the News
We have a winner!
Sustainable Ocean Innovation Award 2012
...and the award goes to...GhostNets Australia for their work in northern Australia tackling the serious problem of lost fishing nets called 'ghost nets'.
The group has found ghost nets measuring 10km long and recorded a myriad of marine species that get entangled as the nets drift along with the currents. The litany of marine casualties include turtles, dolphins, sharks, seabirds, crocodiles, rays and of course, multitudes of fish. The destruction caused by ghost nets continues as they near shore, often wrapping themselves around delicate coral reefs and coastal mangrove systems.
"The GhostNets Australia program is a fantastic example of innovation in action. Solving our environmental problems needs a healthy dose of lateral thinking in order to first see a solution and then brainstorm a way to make it happen" said David Lennon, director of Sustainable Oceans International.
>>Read the media release here: Sustainable Ocean Innovation Award 2012
878 trees to save Orang Utans
SOI through the fantastic giving portal Buy 1 Give 1 (www.b1g1.com) donates a percentage of every project to planting trees in Borneo for Orang Utan habitat.
We just purchased 100 more trees today as part of our Bahrain project with Reef Arabia. That makes 878 in total we've added to the planet rather than taken away from the planet.
Why not join us and include B1G1 in your business!
SOI constructs first 'cod house' to help save Murray cod
Murray cod are Australia's largest freshwater fish and overfishing and loss of essential habitat has decimated their numbers. SOI has been contracted to design and construct a concrete unit to help restore some of the essential breeding habitat the fish require. Sidescan image by ACT Government.
SOI wins 2 Year Contract - Bahrain
SOI and partner Reef Arabia have won a two year contract to design, build and monitor 10 artificial reefs around Bahrain.
>>Further details and photos of deployment of first reef in Bahrain
>>Bahrain newspaper article in Arabic
Four reefs have been deployed thus far. This is the first project of its kind to be constructed in the Arabian Gulf and the first to use custom reef units (designed by SOI) specifically for the local species.
SOI Completes Coral Mitigation Plan for New Doha Port
SOI conducted the necessary surveys and prepared the coral mitigation plans for the New Doha Port construction. This included accurate coral surveys to quantify the size, type and number of corals within the imperiled and threatened zones, and detailed recommendations on relocation methodology, relocation sites and compensatory artificial reefs to offset loss of productive reef structure.
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