From its small office in San Francisco, one organization has managed to rally tens of thousands of people from across the globe to focus on a common cause: protecting our planet’s oceans and coral reefs. The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) coordinates "Dive In To Earth Day" each year to ensure that the underwater world is not forgotten during the annual Earth Day celebrations – after all, over 70 percent of the earth is covered by water. Dive In encourages people to participate in marine conservation events during the week leading up to Earth Day. Now in its fourth year, Dive In To Earth Day generates over 10 percent of all Earth Day activities worldwide.
Celebrities such as William Shatner, Leonardo DiCaprio and Peter Benchley will be taking part in the Dive In celebrations this year. Among the hundreds of events planned are beach and underwater cleanups in Australia, South Africa, Indonesia and Mexico; fish and reef surveys in Japan, the Seychelles, the Cayman Islands and the Philippines; children¹s educational activities in Texas, India, Fiji and Italy; Dive In Festivals in California, Bangladesh, Cambodia and St. Lucia … and more. Many of the events focus on protecting the world’s threatened coral reefs, of which 60 percent may die in the next 30 years if destruction continues at the current rate.
WHAT: Coral reef and marine conservation events organized locally by divers, educators, marine parks, environmental groups and other community members.
WHERE: In more than 50 countries and territories and 25 U.S. States
WHEN: April 15 – 22, 2003
ORGANIZER: The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), http://www.coral.org
Dive In To Earth Day was launched in 2000 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day (held annually on April 22). CORAL, a non-profit coral reef conservation organization, coordinates the event with the support of the Project AWARE Foundation, Earth Day Network, International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) and West Marine.
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