Singapore Celebrates our Reefs: International Year of the Reef 2008

2008 is International Year of the Reef!

And many of the groups and individuals active in Singapore marine conservation have come together to consolidate activities and share about our reefs and shores.

You CAN make a difference for our reefs and shores!

Support IYOR Singapore!
Visit our reefs and shores. Come for IYOR events. The first IYOR event is SharkWaters a charity premier in support of the "Say No to Shark's Fins" campaign in Singapore.

Display the IYOR badge on your blog and website.

Tell your friends about IYOR Singapore.

Want to know more about our reefs? Gather a group of at least 50 and invite any of these speakers to give a free talk about our reefs and shores.

Visit the IYOR Singapore blog which will feature regular articles about our reefs and shores, our marinelife, and the people who work for them.

Happy New Year!

Dugongs drowned in gill nets

Recently reported in Abu Dhabi, but it could happen to our dugongs too!
Abandoned drift nets are regularly seen on our seagrass meadows and shores. What tragic and unnecessary deaths. These gentle creatures don't deserve such a sad fate.

TeamSeagrass roundup on SeagrassWatch

Siti contributed a roundup of TeamSeagrass activities in the latest Seagrass-Watch newsletter. Re-live all the grassy moments for this first year of monitoring! Reading it, I'm amazed at what we've done in less than 12 months!

Some highlights include ...


TeamSeagrass catches the eye of even the Prime Minister!

Elsewhere in this newsletter, our humble worms from Singapore make an appearance!
And so encouraging to read about others around the world, joining in the effort to document seagrasses.So go download the latest Seagrass-Watch newsletter!
Which also has our very own butterflyfishes swimming happily in our seagrasses on the cover masthead!

Our seagrasses are wonderful and the work of TeamSeagrass made it possible to know more about them!

2008 TeamSeagrass monitoring dates

Here are the much awaited TeamSeagrass monitoring dates for 2008!

Next year, there were fewer daylight low tides during weekends. So this means: more weekday trips, and some very early morning trips. It will be a great adventure!

To join TeamSeagrass, see details in the FAQs.

Timing is an estimate, to be confirmed closer to the date (depends on transportation time etc)

• 20 Jan (Sun): Chek Jawa (CJ-01)
  Depart Changi Jetty 12.30pm, end 5pm
• 22 Jan (Tue): Sentosa (SN-01)
  Meet at Underwater World bus-stop 4.30pm, end 7pm
• 20 Feb (Wed): Semakau (PS-01)
  Depart mainland 2.30pm, end 8pm (departure pier to be advised)
• 10 Apr (Thu): Cyrene Reef (CR-01)
  Depart West Coast Pier 6.30am, end 10am
• 12 Apr (Sat): Chek Jawa (CJ-02)
  Depart Changi Jetty 7am, end 12noon
• 25 Apr (Fri): Sentosa (SN-02)
  Meet at Underwater World bus-stop 7am, end 9.30am
• 10 May (Sat): Semakau (PS-02)
  Depart mainland 7am, end 12noon (departure pier to be advised)
• 07 Jun (Sat): Cyrene Reef (CR-03)
  Depart West Coast Pier 6.30am, end 10.30am
• 19 Jul (Sat): Sentosa (SN-03)
  Meet at Underwater World bus-stop 6am, end 8am
• 20 Jul (Sun): Chek Jawa (CJ-03)
  Depart Changi Jetty 5am, end 9am (special morning trip to Chek Jawa)
• 03 Aug (Sun): Semakau (PS-03)
  Depart mainland 4.30am, end 10am (special morning trip to Semakau, departure pier to be advised)
• 04 Aug (Mon): Cyrene Reef (CR-02)
  Depart West Coast Pier 6.30am, end 10am
• 17 Oct (Fri): Sentosa (SN-04)
  Meet at Underwater World bus-stop 5.30pm, end 8pm
• 18 Oct (Sat): Chek Jawa (CJ-04)
  Depart Changi Jetty 4.30pm, end 10pm
• 13 Dec (Sat): Semakau (PS-04)
  Depart mainland 3.30pm, end 10pm

5 Dec is International Volunteer Day

On World Volunteer Day, a special THANK YOU to all the volunteers of TeamSeagrass and the wonderful people who have supported the effort for our seagrasses. There is much to do and it would not have been possible without all of you.

Excerpt of message from the UN Secretary-General
on International Volunteer Day, from the world volunteer web

The challenges facing our world are vast and complex -- from resolving conflicts and building peace, to alleviating poverty and reaching the other Millennium Development Goals.

Tackling these challenges requires all of us to work together -- Governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society in its broadest sense.

Volunteers play an indispensable role in these efforts. Yet, the remarkable contribution of voluntary action around the world is not sufficiently recognized.

Full text of message on the wildsingapore news blog