EDA Co-Founder’s Note

A HOT BUSY SUMMER

It is my great pleasure to present to you our September issue of ‘Divers for the Environment’. As always, I am overjoyed with the support, not only through our diving campaigns and clean-ups, but also by the quality and quantity of articles we regularly receive from our loyal readers, fellow divers and friends; including those from around the world who send in their experiences and advice to other divers, and keep us updated on international diving, marine environment and conservation efforts.

It has been a hot summer – if not the hottest in years for many people around the world. Global temperatures are rising and most of us are living climate change now. As you may know, rising temperatures have a direct effect on rising sea levels and a huge impact on the fragile marine life. Most Scientists consider marine life, and especially coral reefs, the planet’s first defence line against climate change as the first eco system to be impacted by the rise of temperatures is the marine life. We have all heard about coral bleaching in some countries as a result of global warming. As responsible divers, we act as Ambassadors and Eco Warriors because we see the change in marine life as a positive or negative, we live it, we film and photograph it, and most importantly we report the status of the coral reefs. Being environmental divers, we should raise awareness to as many people as we can – even if they don’t dive – as everyone on this planet has the responsibility to protect our planet, whether it’s on land or underwater.

As you all know, EDA is a Reef Check (RC) Training Facility, global divers and the RC movement are using tools such as ‘Divers for the Environment’ to promote and share their work, so I am sure you will enjoy reading our Reef Check news and finding out what your fellow divers are up to in other countries. You will also read about all the great work organised by EDA’s member dive centres in our news section – from clean-ups and courses, to all the fun activities you can have as a diver.

EDA’s annual Cleanup Arabia will be starting in November this year in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and the local municipalities. I am sure you are all excited to join us to ensure we do the best we can to keep our oceans as clean as possible. We are looking forward to seeing you all there! A big thank you in advance to all our clean-up volunteers, and of course, our sponsors.

I hope you have all managed to have a diving holiday to explore somewhere new this summer. It’s a wonderful world.

Together, we can make a difference.

Dive Safe!

IBRAHIM AL-ZU’BI

Co-Founder & Executive Director