2008 International Year of the Reef

DivingViva learnt from a magazine that 2008 is the designated International Year of the Reef on her recent diving trip.

The good news is, Malaysia has few well known diving sites, takes Sipadan for example, is always ranked as the world's top 10 diving paradise. (DivingViva had just visited there and proud to tell you this, it is definitely a MUST DIVE place for all divers.)

All Malaysians should be proud of this in no doubt. The Malaysia first million dollar astronaut, pardon me, don't even mention it outside of Malaysia, especially our neighboring country (you-know-who) if you do not wish further harassment.

According to the authority, Malaysia marked its milestone in history (and showing off to the rest of the world) by sending their very first astronaut to the space. They spent millions to send someone UP escorting others to the space, but couldn't care less to spend money DOWN here to protect our precious marine life, which is essentially every Malaysian's asset to be proud of.

To some, perhaps million dollar astronaut is good looking and the role model for many students. But sorry to say, to DivingViva, even the ugliest stone fish is much more worth admiring than this million dollar astronaut.

Oh ya, back to the International Year of the Reef, and here come the bad news, according to the magazine, Malaysia's reef is at critical stage, whereas about 42%of Malaysia's reefs are under threat.

The main reasons include destructive fishing methods (blast fishing, cyanide fishing, deep-water trawling), overfishing, pollution runoff, sedimentation, climate change ans mass coral bleaching. (DivingViva will come to the details of each in the next article)

The magazine also suggests divers to dive responsibly. DivingViva do agree that ALL divers shall play their roles of not touching any corals, and not causing any pollution or disturbance to the marine life.

However, stricter rules should be imposed, not only upon divers, but also to those greater Threats like fishing, construction, or any other destructive activities.

Being one of the world's top diving spots with diverse coral reefs and dazzling wealth of undersea life, it sounds a solid reason all Malaysians should be proud of.

The ICRI International Year of the Reef 2008 is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them. Visit http://www.iyor.org/ for more information