The first-ever worldwide marine tourism platform, the Green Fins Hub, has launched.
The hub aims to act as a central resource that marine tourism operators from around the world can use to improve their practices in efficient and cost-effective ways. The goal of creating the hub is to allow Green Fins to scale up from 700 operators in 14 countries to more than 30,000 globally.
The new hub is the work of the Reef World Foundation in association with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The project took on board various stakeholder opinions, including dive training agencies, as well as insurance providers (Divers Alert Network) and online booking platforms.
According to Leticia Carvalho, the principal coordinator for marine and freshwater issues at UNEP:
“Coral reefs, home to at least 25 per cent of marine life, are the mecca for marine-related tourism, contributing up to 40 per cent or more of the gross domestic product in some island nations. However, they are a most vulnerable ecosystem, especially to climate change with the difference between a global temperature rise of 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius being existential for reefs…Increasing accessibility of best practice, knowledge and citizen science through this global digital hub can be a game changer in ensuring a future for coral reefs and other fragile marine ecosystems.”
You can find the Green Fins Hub here.
