Los Angeles-based Reef
Worlds, whose team includes film and television designers, dive-site
developers, and marine biologists, are designing next generation sustainable
reefs for tourism and the environment in a race to save inshore ocean habitat
around the globe.
Environmental change has
caused the loss of more than half the world’s reef building corals.
Coral cover, a measure of the percentage of the seafloor covered by living
coral, is now just 10-20 percent worldwide. The Caribbean, thought to be one of
the more pristine global reef systems, has lost 80% of its coral cover in only
the last 50 years.
CEO Patric Douglas notes
that while scuba diving and snorkeling are a $3-billion-a-year business, most
resort developments don’t offer much in the way of special underwater
experiences. “Many five-star resorts have one-star waterfronts,” says Douglas.
Reef Worlds estimates there are 500,000 square miles of resort oceanfront with
limited appeal to adventurous tourists due to rampant habitat loss.
Worse yet, these zones
have suffered decades of neglect as resort developers focused on land based
amenities such as water parks and golf courses.
“Reef Worlds was
established three years ago with the goal of working alongside resorts to
create sustainable artificial reef systems that help reduce tourism pressures
on natural reefs. Reef Worlds are fully monetized discrete mini-marine
“protected areas” within the resort’s own footprint,
allowing them to brand the signature underwater experiences of their guests
while creating and fostering regional habitat,” says Douglas.
Reef Worlds have been
promoting the economic and ecological benefits of what he calls “habitat tourism,”
which would give resort owners a way to monetize the waters off their beaches,
while relieving some of the pressure from aquatic tourists on natural
underwater reef systems that are endangered or dying.
Artificial reefs have
been around for decades. Most were created with everything from sunken
battleships to old tires—and most, says Douglas, are boring. “Who wants to look
at a concrete triangle?” he asks. Reef Worlds designs and creates “dynamic reefs”
to attract sea life and tourism interest, making them places people actually
want to explore, he says.
In Mexico, the company
is developing an underwater art garden featuring 200 works of art that will
take their cues from Mayan and Aztec iconography. Douglas calls this “Mayan
Gods in 3D.”
Douglas says Reef Worlds
will be able to bring in projects at 10-20% of the cost of a typical resort
water theme park, which can run $70 million to build and $10 million a year to
market and maintain. And unlike land based entertainment facilities Reef Worlds
sites slowly transform over time into habitat for a wide range of wildlife and
corals like a typical artificial reef.
Reef Worlds’ “Pearl
of Dubai” project will be located in the waters around the World Islands
development. Renderings suggest the park might be modeled after the mythic Lost
City of Atlantis. Reef Worlds has five projects in varying stages of
development in Dubai, Qatar, the Philippines, and Mexico.
For more details
checkout also here :- http://www.reefworlds.com/
Media Contact:
Los Angeles, CA 90120
Phone: (323) 863-5085
General Inquiries
SE Asia Resort Sales
Partnerships
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