The Green Fins Programme

The “Green Fins” programme was initiated in 2004 by the East Asian Seas Regional Coordinating Unit (EAS/RCU), the secretariat of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) – located in Bangkok, Thailand. It aims to encourage dive and resort operators, and inadvertently, clients who use their services to adopt environmentally-friendly practices when diving or snorkeling around coral reefs. The programme offers an avenue through which diving enthusiasts and dive operators can participate in conservation, monitoring, and management of coral reefs by fostering the adoption and practice of environmentally-friendly diving, which in turn aid in protecting the coral reefs.

The overall objective of the “Green Fins” programme is to establish a network of environmentally-friendly dive operators that generates mutual benefits for the operators as well as the environment in coral reef areas and to assist in coral reef monitoring. The programme awards certificates to dive operators who carry out their operations using a set of environmentally-friendly guidelines. Divers are encouraged to use tour operators and resorts displaying the logo (see the “Green Fins” logo above) and certificate. “Green Fins” can also contribute to biophysical and socio-economic monitoring by providing data illustrating changes in the level of awareness, coral reef health, standard of living of tour operators, and tourist behaviour, etc.

 The project is being launched in Malaysia in year 2008. In Malaysia, Department of Marine Park Malaysia, NRE is responsible for expanding the network in Malaysia and to produce educational  and public awareness materials and certificates. Green Fins activities currently focus on expanding the project to additional member countries in the East Asian Seas region and to strengthen the existing network.

Green Fins addresses the following environmental issues:

• The lack of awareness among tourists, guides and tour boat operators of the adverse impact of improper recreational use of the marine environment

• Anchor damage to reefs that have become popular year-round destinations for tour boats

• Littering

The expected outcomes of implementation of the Green Fins Programme are:

• Increased awareness of good diving practices

• Increased protective measures for coral reefs

• Increased coral reef data and information at the selected sites

• Improved coral reef health