Dive into coral reef protection

In this session of tranquillity, we would like you to focus on the living art that is the coral reef and its protection. This particular reef, named Fan 38, is located at Wakatobi Dive Resort and is one of our favourite reefs on this beautiful Blue Planet. Reef-building corals consist of colonies of tiny animals, all sharing the same genes. In other words, any particular hard coral is one creature, as well as many creatures at the same time … When the conditions are just right, these animals can grow prolifically, albeit at a very slow pace, creating the cathedral-like structures we love so much.

Dive into the sunlit reef top at Wakatobi’s Fan 38

These days, pretty much all of the coral reefs worldwide are under threat. Luckily, some localized conservation efforts are paying off, and allow the reefs there to recover. Coral reefs are pretty much a symbiotic organism in itself, depending on all the lifeforms that inhabit them, as well as those that visit temporarily, for survival. A technique that is used by pretty much everything in the natural world. Everything is connected …

We are part of nature

Therefore, every action is affecting everything else. So, in nature there is no good or bad, there are only consequences. Unfortunately, our species seem to have forgotten this fact. Which is somewhat strange, since we ourselves are also symbiotic creatures of sorts, who depend not only on the world around us for sustenance, but on the amount and health, of all the bacteria, viruses, and other life forms that share our bodies with us. Take one away, or let another grow out of control, and we get sick as a result.

Life out of balance

Same goes for coral reefs, which makes protection and conservation rather difficult, when dealing with a species like ourselves, temporarily claiming dominance over this planet, whilst being conditioned to forget about life’s equilibrium and focus on a fictitious monetary and power system instead. But try as we might, we can not change the fact that we are indivisibly linked to the world around us …

Conservation work under pressure

Many of the current reef conservation efforts around the world, like the one in Wakatobi, are private initiatives funded by NGO’s and/or tourism, and as such they’ve had a very difficult time over the last year. There are many people that believe that 2020 has been a good year for nature, and the planet as a whole, due to lockdowns and travel restrictions, but this is certainly not the case for the world’s oceans. Less supervision in protected areas has led to an increase in fishing activities there.

Dive into coral reef protection

As the world is hopefully opening up again somewhat this year, these conservation efforts are in need of your assistance. Our advice would be to look at the projects one can support when deciding their next holiday destination (The coral reefs of Wakatobi). Luckily for Fan 38, as well as the many other spectacular coral reefs in the region, Wakatobi Dive Resort has kept a skeleton crew on site, that together with the local authorities, has patrolled and protected the reefs that are part of their conservation efforts. So that when the first guests return to the resort, underwater paradise awaits them!

There is more on coral reefs:

For more visual meditation, watch the whole playlist on our YouTube channel or browse through the different clips on our designated page „Take a Minute“ on this website.