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Did You Know?

Clownfish
Photo by Lance Laack.

Coral reefs are home to over 40,000 species of fish.

 
2008 Pacific Year of the Reef

Welcome to the 2008 Pacific Year of the Reef!


Matavera Stars, winners of the string band competition at Environment Week celebrations in Cook Islands. Groups composed and performed songs highlighting links between climate change and coral reefs. Photo by Cook Islands National Environment Service.

 

The 2008 Pacific Year of the Reef (PYOR) campaign is a regional initiative to incite action to save the Pacific's coral reefs.

The goal of the PYOR campaign is to encourage Pacific islanders to take action to reverse the current degradation of their coral reefs and build their resilience to natural stresses such as climate change. The campaign is part of the International Year of the Reef that aims to raise awareness of the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them. Coral reefs play critical roles as providers of Pacific islanders' livelihoods and cultures and protectors of our islands. Their conservation is key to the sustainable development of our region.         

Upcoming Events

June

  • Ocean Awareness Training course begins in Maui, Hawai’i
  • World Environment Day and World Ocean Day celebrations
  • String band, drama, and recyclable art competitions in Cook Islands
  • Shore and underwater clean up at Blue Hole, Kosrae, Federated States
    of Micronesia
  • Song and poster competitions, and drama in Solomon Islands
  • Poster competition in Tuvalu
  • Kawaikui Beach clean up in Hawai’i
  • Reef Night at Maui Ocean Center, Hawai’i
  • 24 June: Awareness talk by Aleipata School students at Tafua Beach Fales
  • 27 June: Community talk by Aleipata School students
  • 28 June: Fiji beach clean up

July

  • 30 June - 4 July:  Community awareness activities by Malapoa College
  • Coral parade and carnival in CNMI
  • 11th International Coral Reef Symposium
  • Hawai’i Conservation Film Festival
    “Conservation through art” exhibition in Hawai’i
  • 10th Festival of Pacific Arts begins in Pago Pago, American Samoa
  • Regional and national events continue

View the full calendar of events

Newsletter

The second issue of the PYOR newsletter is now available here.

Youth groups in Phase 2 of our 'challengecoralreef' competition are:

  • Mauke School, Cook Islands
  • Namamanuca Primary School, Fiji
  • Betio Junior Secondary School, Kiribati
  • Equipe du Lycee du Grand Noumea and Lycee
    Agricole de Nouvelle-Caledonie, New Caledonia
  • Aleipata Secondary School, Samoa
  • Mbokona Community High School, Mbua Vale Community High School, and St Joseph's Catholic Secondary School, Solomon Islands 
  • Malapoa College, Vanuatu
  • Lycee d’Etat of Wallis and Futuna
PYOR Logo

For more information on 2008 Pacific Year of the Reef, contact Caroline Vieux, SPREP Coral Reef Management Officer at carolinev@sprep.org or Sereima Savu, SPREP Pacific Year of the Reef Campaign Coordinator, at sereimas@sprep.org.

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