SOTTACQUA AND THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE REEF (IYOR): AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT

Someone has surely already been hearing about it, but some others will probably discover  by reading our review, that 2008 is a special year for  worldwide people in general but for divers in particular mode.

The diffusion of this news accomplishes at one of the tasks we assigned ourserves, namely the one of being an information channel.

2008 has  been chosen as the International Year of the Reef by the members of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)  The challenge of the IYOR 2008 is the one of awakening mankind and increasing human awareness about the importance and the value of coral reefs, and about the threaths to their  survival, in order to stimulate and motivate people to take some concrete actions to protect them due also to their importance for us because, as you can read on IYOR's poster healthy coral reef habitats provide:

Habitat home to over 1 million diverse aquatic species, including thousand of fish species.

Income: billions of dollars and millions of jobs in over 90 countries around the world

Food: for people living near coral reefs especially on small island

Protection: a natural barrier protecting coastal cities, communities and beaches

Medicine: the potential for treatments for many od the world's most prevalent and dangerous illnesses and diseases.

SOTTACQUA is the Italian reference of this important worlwide initiative sponsored by the USA State Department, the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) and managed by an international Committee where  Australian, Japanese, French, Mexican, Philippine and USA governments work together.

No doubt it is a challenging program, plenty of initiatives that intends great things through a worldwide communication of the importance and value of the reefs. The IYOR 2008 follows the one of 1997, when by the first time there had been global efforts to raise awareness about the coral reefs and to support worldwide initiatives and campaigns of sustainability, research and control of these delicate ecosystems.

In spite IYOR 1997 proved to be very successful, ten years after much is still to be done to let worldwide understand the importance of these ecosystems. 

This was the raison why the idea of a new International Year of the Reef has arosen. At this initiative, as at the previous one, participate not only important organizations (some of them have been mentioned above) but also schools, clubs and individuals have activated themselves to organize and propose any kind of initiatives. SOTTACQUA could not remain a simple observer and reporter.

“we could not, in fact, let us not be involved by a so challenging event; hence we activate and get in touch with the promoting committee by offering our contribute of Italians at the success of the IYOR 2008. Being particularly interested and experts in the image world, the initiative we proposed regards this field. We decided to organize an on-line photo international competition having the reefs as subject.

Even if we have not been the first who organized on-line competitions by utilizing all the web potentialities, we are anyhow proud of having been the first (and at the moment the only ones) Italians who have participated at this project with an actual proposal, which gained us the written congratulations (you are the first, congratulations!!) by the secretariat of the organizing committee of the IYOR 2008 (www.iyor.org).

We are besides absolutely aware that divers are among the principal addresses of all the initiatives undertaken to protect the coral reefs. We all profit, whenever possible, to travel to these underwater paradises and when back home, we yearn after travelling back and be rapted by their colours and beauties.

Whatever reef that dies is therefore a loss not only for the countries where these wonderful ecosystems grow up, but also for we all, even if we live faraway. Through the photos that you will forward from worldwide to the editorial staff of our review, we would like to show our readers the marvels of the reef. We hope not to receive photos of destroyed reef but we are conscious that they exist and if should it happen (of course you can send them), we will not censor them, rather publish them well aware of their importance in contributing at the understanding of the risk we are running any time we alter the equilibrium both of the tropical oceans and of all the seas in general. It will be a big effort for us, but we will not be alone.

We are sure we will have not only a lot of friends to support us but also some competitors, who will represent a stimulus to do better. We can count anyhow on the cooperation and sponsorship of the international committee of the IYOR and of our sponsor NIKON Italia, that monthly will offer as a prize a rucksack TENBA and as final prizes two digital reflex for the winners of the two sections, in which the competition is divided. In fact, this competition is open to everybody, amateurs and professionals and this will be really the “contest” of the readers, because, as per regulation, the judges of the photos we will publish, are the readers themselves, who will select the pictures that will let state the overall winners and that will be then inserted in a special calendar SOTTACQUA 2008.

Bang! This virtual pistol shot is the signal that the hunting at the images has been starting.. You can forward your photos to the following e-mail address iyor@sottacqua.info after having read the regulation. Should you not be selected one month, do not discourage and try again. Till the end of the year you have a chance of winning the monthly prize, namely a rucksack TENBA.

But you will above all cooperate at the humble contribution that the SOTTACQUA staff if offering in revaluing and reaffirming that our identity cannot leave the friendship relation with the environment where we live out of consideration. We should always remember the ancient prover of the American Indians  "Treat the earth well: it was not given you by our parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children"  The sea in its entirety can help us in understanding better this humble, wise maxim.

From his side the whole editorial staff of SOTTACQUA is hoping to give its contribution at the diffusion of this understanding.