Reef Care Curacao was founded out of concern for the (Curacao) Coral Reef. Internationally, coral reef scientists are sounding the alarm about the precarious situation of coral reefs worldwide. Besides existing and continuously increasing stress on coral reefs due to overpopulation, coastal development and industrial activities, now the coral reefs have to contend with worldwide slowly rising temperatures: the so called global warming or greenhouse effect. Biologist predict that coral reefs that have already been impacted, diminishing their resilience, will disappear completely over the next 20 to 30 years.
This threat is imminent for Curacao too. In several places the Coral Reef has badly deteriorated, not just in areas where human activities are impacting the reef, but in other more remote places as well, the lush shallow water stands of Fire Coral and Elkhorn Coral have all but disappeared. Other symptoms are the Caribbean wide die off of Longspined Sea Urchins and the fields of Staghorn Coral in the early eighties, decimated by diseases that spread through the region like brush fire, indicating a lowered resistance.
In more and more remote localities nutrient pollution due to sewage disposal and leaking septic tanks, one of the worst enemies of the Coral Reef, is becoming apparent. Up to four coral diseases can be found on our reefs. Large fish such as groupers and other reef animals such as lobsters have become a rare sight due to overfishing. Scientific research has shown that the number of species, the diversity, of our Coral Reef is declining, as well as the degree of bottom cover by corals.
The reefs of Curacao are still among the best of the Caribbean, comparable to the barrier reef of Belize, the reefs of the Cayman Islands and of course those of our sister island of Bonaire. However, if we want to keep them that way, we must reduce all potential stress factors to a minimum in order to avoid further deterioration. This is what Reef Care Curacao is about.
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