Botafumeiro
Planet Doc
In the coral reefs, too, winds of hope are also blowing.
Alerted by the critical situation they have reached, scientists from all around the world have set to work to save the coral reefs.
In Australia, where we find the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world, investigators are raising the alarm worldwide, warning of the deterioration due to the general warming of our atmosphere.
But while the macro-measures are taken at world level, and until they produce results, Australian investigators are undertaking practical initiatives to minimise the damage to coral communities.
Based on the data obtained from meticulous research projects, the scientific community provides the government agencies with the knowledge that marks the new laws for the care and protection of the coral reefs. These laws are of immediate application and here, in Australia, they are achieving encouraging results.
Once again, education and awareness-raising are central in this new conservationist spirit.
Educating the tourists that come to the Great Barrier Reef means recruiting defenders of the coral community. The visitors are shown how to behave the world of the corals, so they will not damage them, but, what is more important, they are made to understand, value and admire the fragile world of the reef, knowing that anything we admire we love. And anything we love we defend and conserve.
On board an old sailing ship, Ana Cañadas and Ricardo Sagarminaga have for years been fighting for the conservation of the Mediterranean Sea and its species.
Together, they form Alnitak, an NGO for the study and conservation of Mediterranean ecosystems. The task they face will only be successful if they can manage to make the populations that live from the Mediterranean aware of the need for conservation. It is a complicated mission, but Alnitak has found powerful allies: the cetaceans.
With the help of the dolphins and whales, Ricardo and Ana are managing to get their message across to society.
The dolphins and the charismatic Toftevaag, the organisation’s ship, have become excellent messengers to get across to the public information about the marine environment and the problems it faces. Over ten years of research and planning are starting to bring results and they are now much closer to achieving their goal of a Marine Reserve for Cetaceans in the Alborán Sea.
These emissaries of the sea have become the hope of thousands of species. It is no longer a question of protecting a certain animal, but rather of saving entire ecosystems. And in some cases, as in the Mediterranean Sea, it is specific species that hold the key to the hearts and minds of human societies.