Our Mission

To conserve marine ecosystems for their recreational, commercial, and intrinsic value by educating, enlisting and enabling divers and other marine enthusiasts to become active stewards and citizen scientists. REEF links the diving community with scientists, resource managers and conservationists through marine-life data collection and related activities.

Our Vision

REEF envisions divers and marine enthusiasts actively engaging in marine conservation. With knowledge, training and the opportunity to get involved, these marine citizen scientists make significant and ongoing contributions through REEF’s strategic partnerships with government agencies, science and academic institutions, the non-profit sector, and local communities. Divers and snorkelers are in a unique position to observe and document the many valuable and vulnerable living marine resources. They play an important role in bringing information to the surface that adds to the knowledge base of ocean ecosystems and facilitates informed decision-making. Through REEF’s efforts, marine citizen scientists impart an ethic of stewardship to current and future generations.

Our Goals

  • To link divers with the science, resource management, and environmental communities to increase opportunities for cooperative marine conservation.
  • To educate and enlist a growing corps of volunteer divers to conduct marine life surveys.
  • To provide a quality-controlled, objective, geographically broad, and continuing source of marine biodiversity data for practical application in conservation and resource management.
  • To encourage and facilitate broad use of REEF data by scientists, resource managers, and educators.
  • To assist in the development of effective marine conservation strategies.
  • To educate divers, snorkelers and the general public about threats confronting the marine environment and to encourage them to become active stewards in ocean conservation.
  • To promote the diving community as an active partner in the long-term conservation of coral reefs and other marine habitats.
  • To work cooperatively with like-minded individuals and organizations to effectively and efficiently achieve these goals.