Making efforts to conserve our marine environment, one reef at a time - an initiative by a group of divers in SMU.
Reef Alert was formed out of our students’ passion for diving and understanding that something must be done to protect our marine environment. Reef Alert has championed reef conservation efforts and promoted good diving practices to divers around the world. Past efforts of the team include a project to Surin Island in Thailand, where the team partnered with the Marine Department of Chulalonkorn Un
iversity to survey and collect data to find out the health of the coral reefs. Data gathered by the team just before the 2004 tsunami has now become a valuable reference for Thai Universities in managing the reefs of Western Thailand. Countries where the team has conducted reef surveys also includes Malaysia and Singapore. Each year, the team will go through about 3 months of intensive training. This consist of theory lessons on diving proficiency and data collection methods, field sessions locally and/or in Malaysia and facilitated discussion forums for the team to gain a greater understanding of the environmental issues impacting the world. Data collected by the team are reviewed by the marine biologists or local researchers to ensure scientific integrity of the survey findings, and are subjected to scientific reporting and publication by the partner organisations. In 2012, the project team was in Malapascua Island, the Philippines, to assist The Thresher Shark and Research Conservation Project (TSRCP) with extensive data collection of the sea floor (reef mapping), and planting of cameras to observe marine animal behaviour. TSRCP will be using the results of the findings to raise awareness amongst the local community on the significance of conservation, and to convince the government to start taking preventive measures to minimise damage caused by divers at popular dive sites by means of regulations and prohibitive laws. To ensure the sustainability of the project, the Reef Alert team has returned to Malapascua in 2014 and 2015 as well. The team also collaborated with Unicef in establishing disaster risk management protocols with the local community. Reef Alert 2016 will continue working with the Thresher Shark Research and Conservation Project (TSRCP) in data collection. Reef Alert remains open to opportunities around the world with regards to marine conservation, as our mission is not only to make a tangible difference in conserving our natural marine habitat, but also to provide our students with a meaningful learning experience.
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