Giving Back

 

Susanne Ball has a passion for scuba diving and has visited some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world. After several trips to Raja Amat Papua in Indonesia, one of the richest coral reef ecosystems in the world, she became active in trying to protect the world's coral reefs by working with an organization called The Coral Reef Alliance. A portion of all sales from the Bliss Hawaii Collection will be donated to The Coral Reef Alliance.  

"If we continue on our current pathway where we're pumping CO2 into the atmosphere, we're acidifying the oceans, we won't have coral reefs within 20, 30, 40 years from now."

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director, Global Change Institute 

Coral reefs are unlike anything else on the planet. In addition to providing valuable habitat for fish and other animals, they are incredibly beautiful, with seemingly infinite structures and growth forms.  Coral reefs are an important food source for the people who live near reefs, and, as nurseries, are vital to the world’s fisheries. Many of the compounds now being used in human medicines, including some that treat cancer, are found on coral reefs, with probably many more yet to be discovered. Coral reefs help humans in many other ways too: generating tourist dollars for communities, and—especially important in our changing climate—acting as natural barriers against storm events like hurricanes, typhoons, and even tsunamis. The annual value of the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs to millions of people is estimated to be over $375 billion.

Coral reefs are the "rainforests of the sea", prized for their beauty and resources the world over. They are also one of the Earth's most vulnerable ecosystems threatened by climate change.  While coral reefs cover less than two percent of the ocean floor, nearly 25 percent of all marine life depends on them for survival. Because it's a living structure, it can also die. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), nearly all coral reefs worldwide will be threatened with death by 2050.

"There are multiple stressors that face coral reefs. There are sediments and nutrients flowing down rivers and smothering corals and other organisms. There has been too much fishing in some cases where we've knocked down key species. But the real 'show-stoppers' now are the global changes that we're inflicting on coral reefs," explains Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of The Global Change Institute.

 Easy ways you can help . . . 

 

Learn more about The Coral Reef Alliance on their website www.CORAL.org