INTRODUCTION

Biodiversity, reefs and environmental monitoring

The most fundamental meaning of biodiversity is the concept of species richness, i.e., the number of species which occur at a given site, or within a region or an ecosystem. Indeed, ecologists usually measure diversity using a series of indexes that, more or less directly, compare the number of the species with their abundance and/or numerical dominance. Biodiversity has an important ecological value as a national indicator of the health of the environment and the services produced by the ecological systems are identified as primary aspects for human well-being representing a part of the economic value of the entire planet. Various studies have described and quantified the very high economic value of the ecosystem services of the entire biosphere and that has led to the conviction that the loss of biodiversity is followed by the loss of ecosystem functions and the consequent loss of the “services” for mankind. These conditions have produced an increasing political involvement in biological diversity and its management.

Among marine ecosystems coral reefs have the greatest biodiversity and host about a third of all the marine species described, many of which are exclusive to this environment. They also play a key role in human life, by providing essential benefits and important services to over 500 million people throughout the world, supporting the tourist industry, the main economic resource for many countries of the third world, promoting commercial and recreational fishing and producing welfare associated with their management and protection. Nevertheless, these environments are greatly threatened by mankind and are vulnerable to global environmental changes (such as ocean acidification and warming). It is important to consider that the consequences of the degradation of the reefs is not restricted to the loss of the goods and services they provide, but above all threatens the extinction of most of the entire terrestrial biodiversity, probably to an extent never experienced in the history of mankind. The preservation of biodiversity and the balanced management of natural resources are priorities and intrinsic aims of local administrations and national and international government environmental and cultural policies (for example: Convention on Biological Diversities of 1992 and Habitat Directive 92/43/CEE). Among the eight actions that the Convention on Biological Diversities of Rio de Janeiro indicates as priorities is the large-scale geographical monitoring of the components of biodiversity. Monitoring, quantifying the changes in resources in time and space, provides the guidelines for the management of biological diversities. In the absence of large economic resources from local authorities and government, citizens, if adequately trained, can gather reliable data and make assessments comparable to those made by professionals, thus reducing the often-prohibitive costs of large-scale geographical and temporal monitoring. The involvement of citizens has, also, an important educational value because it develops their sensitivity to the problems of conservation. This influences positively the attitude of citizens and may bring about a reduction of the impact on the environment.

Since 1999, at Bologna University

The Marine Science Group (MSG - www.marinesciencegroup.org) Department of Evolutionary Experimental Biology of the Alma Mater Studiorum - Bologna University has been cooperating with volunteer citizens, with encouraging results. In MSG projects, recreational divers are involved in research concerning the monitoring of marine biodiversity. The first project called “Mediterranean Hippocampus Mission”, begun in 1999, has had its results published in the scientific journal Conservative Biology, published by the American Association for Conservation Biology (http://www.conbio.org). Backed by the Environment Ministry, the project has been supported by two diving centres - SSI and SNSI - and has seen the cooperation of the environmental association Underwater Life Project. The study ended in 2001 and was the first survey of the two species of seahorse present along the Italian coast. Although some of the results might have been influenced by the test method based on the sightings of recreational divers, “Mediterranean Hippocampus Mission” enabled the plotting of a profile representative of the geographical and ecological distribution of populations of Hippocampus in our seas. Not less importantly, the project showed how citizens are interested in taking part in environmental monitoring and highlighted how the media is willing to spread this type of initiative (in 3 years over 8700 survey questionnaires filled in and several spaces in all the media). In 2002, based on the results of our previous experience, the campaign “Sub for the environment. 2002-2005: Underwater Mediterranean Biodiversity Project” was begun, a study aimed at assessing the state of marine biodiversity along the Mediterranean coasts, again with the cooperation of volunteer operators. The study was backed by the Environment Ministry and the partners of Bologna University were: ASTOI, Italian Tour Operators Association (www.astoi.com), ADI SUB, association of diving schools IDEA, PADI, SNSI, SSI (www.adisub.org) and scientific publicity by QUARK. “Sub for the environment” has produced significant results (published in the scientific journal of the American Ecology Society – Ecological Applications): nearly 19000 recorded questionnaires in 4 years and a conservative estimate of 71 million contacts produced through cooperation of the main national mass-media. The full press review is available on the internet site www.marinesciencegroup.org of the research group in charge.

The Red Sea project

Since the end of the 1970's the flow of tourists towards the more politically stable areas of the Red Sea has witnessed an unprecedented growth, to the extent that today tourism is an essential component in the area's economy. The southern Sinai coast at Sharm el Sheikh, is among the most popular destinations and Egyptian Tourist Authority sources have revealed that 25% of the entire flow of tourists towards this area is made up of recreational divers attracted by the reefs of the Ras Mohamed National Park. The economic importance of tourism provides political authorities with an excellent reason to preserve the reef; furthermore the sustainable development of tourism would help preserve the ecosystem at the base of the economic asset itself. Besides that, it has been shown that a pre-dive briefing on the delicate nature of the reef ecosystem and the technique of floating while diving may improve the tourist divers' behaviour and greatly reduce their impact on the reef. In the Mediterranean the innovative method of environmental monitoring introduced by the Marine Science Group of Bologna University in 1999, in 5 years has reached thousands of underwater tourists and has shown that they are not just interested in taking part in this type of project, but also, after training, can gather a large amount of information useful for research (see the past projects of Bologna University). To continue the previous scientific initiatives of the Marine Science Group of the Department of Evolutionary Experimental Biology of Bologna University, in a context of innovative action aimed not only at environmental monitoring, but also nature awareness, “STE: Scuba Tourism for the Environment – Red Sea Biodiversity Monitoring Program” was set up, whose aims are:

• involving underwater tourists in collecting data on the marine biodiversity of the Red Sea area;

• promoting environmental awareness in the visitors;

• supporting the local authority in the management of efforts to preserve the ecosystem;

• providing a contribution to the development of sustainable tourism. Linking the academic world with the socio-economic one, thanks to the involvement of tourist sector operators and local authorities in developing environmental protection, the STEproject could represent a model of interdisciplinary scientific activity aimed at developing a system where the needs of nature are fulfilled along with those of mankind.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

• to develop a large data bank on the relative presence and abundance of numerous key taxa, a useful tool for institutes and organisations both public and private in charge of the management and conservation of the natural resources of the Red Sea;

• to describe spatial and temporal trends for the ecosystem and the presence, distribution and abundance of the species recorded;

• to correlate this trend with the human activities, which are intense and in expansion and have a marked importance for the economy of the local community;

• to check the current protection measurements and identify areas with particular problems of conservation and sites with a virgin state of biodiversity, which become a priority for the conservation of the ecosystem;

• to identify “early-warning” signs of stress for the corals and significant environmental changes.
   

PROJECT METHOD

Realization of a survey questionnaire

This questionnaire is the reference support for the tourists' participation in the project. Printed on glazed paper, the questionnaire will have three sections. The first contains information on how to approach the reef in a sustainable way, the second has high-resolution pictures, to identify the organisms to be recorded, and the third part is to record the data. Making the survey qaustionnaire requires the following:
MSG researchers to identify animal organisms characteristic of the Red Sea area, which, besides being considered as indicators of environment quality, have the following characteristics:
being representative of all trophic levels;
being easy to spot for the diver or snorkeler;
being common throughout the Red Sea.
An MSG researcher and an underwater photographer to take the necessary pictures to make the quationnaire. The professional underwater photographer will be Mr Gianni Neto (www.giannineto.it). He has already collaborated with MSG and took the pictures for the survey questionnaires, handouts and the internet pages of “Mediterranean Hippocampus Mission” and “Sub for the environment”, he is well acquainted with the needs and problems of environmental monitoring that MSG leads in cooperation with recreational divers. The researcher and photographer's accommodation expenses will be met by MSG's partners.
The cost of printing the questionnaires will be met by MSG's partners.

Distribution of the survey questionnaire

Having made the questionnaire it will be distributed in places deemed appropriate by MSG and partners. The questionnaire should be distributed at travel agencies, airports, airline companies, hotels, holiday villages and diving centres in the area involved in monitoring as well as Italian diving schools affiliated to the diving centres involved in the initiative. The questionnaire can also be distributed at Bologna University and at the partners' offices. It could also be attached to or inserted inside the magazines that cooperate with publicizing the project. In digital format the questionnaire will be found also on internet.

Collecting data on underwater biodiversity

Sampling involves the following stages:
A)Staff training:
The project partners, in cooperation with MSG researchers, will organize appropriate training seminars for their operators (entertaining staff, guides, diving instructors, etc.) active in the project research area.
B)Sensitisation and involvement of tourists:
The trained staff will sensitize divers and snorkelers by briefing them before and after dives. Divers and snorkelers will be encouraged to also take part in specially organized public events, by cooperating with the media and attending places where the questionnaires are distributed.
These stages, an indispensable premise at the beginning of data acquisition, will be repeated periodically over the years of the project. The cost of these stages will be charged to the partners.

Collecting and sending the sampling questionnaires to the MSG office

The diving centres involved in the project, will be called “Field Stations” and will be the temporary collecting centres for the completed questionnaires. The questionnaires will then be sent to MSG at the Biology Department of Bologna University where they will be elaborated. How and when the questionnaires will be sent will be defined when the project is underway, but it will be staggered over the year.

Data elaboration

MSG researchers will elaborate the data systematically and provide an annual report on the status of the project.

Publicizing the results

An annual report on the trend of the study and the final project results will be periodically published to promote the project and provide participants with information. In this phase of the project MSG will use its experience, knowledge and contacts already consolidated both with the mass-media (newspapers and magazines, television and radio programmes, in-house magazines of airline companies, etc.) and with the recreational divers and the organizations they belong to (schools and diving centres).

EXPECTED RESULTS

At the end of the study a database containing information on the presence, distribution and abundance of the recorded organisms will be available, which will provide spatial and temporal trends about the ecology of the organisms and coastal biodiversity.
Thanks to the relationship consolidated with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, MSG researchers will be able to:

• suggest plans to prevent critical situations for the environment by observing “early-warning” signs. The sensitivity of corals, reefs and the ecosystem correlated to climate changes and their potential use as sensors and indicators of change, is a valid method for predicting the critical point of exploitation before this is reached.
   

• report to the local authorities priority sites with particular problems to plan future action of conservation or with virgin conditions to be considered as “hotspots” of biodiversity; also in relation to the formation and management of new Protected Marine Areas.
   

• Influence the political decisions of the Egyptian Government bodies in charge of the conservation and protection of the Red Sea reefs.
   

Furthermore, STEproject is able to contact and educate tens of thousands of tourists on how to approach reefs and the organisms and strengthen their responsible behaviour.

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT

• realize a project that can be a model for the study and responsible handling of tourist areas;

• promote interdisciplinary work for the development of research;
   

• promote synergy between the academic and civil worlds to favour the realization of studies on biodiversity that are difficult to do so by single research organizations, and increase public awareness of nature and the environment;
   

• make a new model of recreational monitoring of biodiversity that can be exported to other marine environments and also land ecosystems (for example bird-watchers and mountain-trekkers might be other types of possible volunteers);
   

• integrate with the results of existing STEproject projects led by MSG (for example Coral Warm – www.coralwarm.eu) that aim at predicting the response of Red Sea corals to global warming and ocean acidification. That way it will be possible to check whether the predictions about the ecological responses of corals and their chance of survival will be confirmed, at dramatically reduced costs compared to traditional methods of monitoring based on individual researchers.

SECONDARY PROJECT INITIATIVES

Concerning the research project, and in particular with the aim of achieving volunteer loyalty and education, the following project spin-off initiatives have been proposed:

• updating the project internet site to illustrate all the aspects of the study (problems, objectives, methodologies, results, network of the participating Field Stations) and to present activities correlated to the project and the organizations that cooperate in their realization;

• producing material to publicize and promote the project (such as stickers, brochures, reports, videos, gadgets, etc.), whose costs will be met by the partners of Bologna University;

• periodic reports to volunteers on the progress of the study by post, e-mail, internet and mass-media;

• encourage dives in the areas by offering awards and/or prizes. For example, publishing the best divers' names on the project internet site and/or in the periodic reports on the study progress, and sending personalized thank-you letters or offering prizes of subscriptions to diving, tourist and scientific magazines, as well as possible prize trips, offered by the sponsoring partners;

• organizing conferences on the project and  training courses in the tourist centres (costs charged to the partners).

© 2012 Marine Science Group