To update information on coral reef health of at least 5 sites within Varadero´s Reef to be used as input for conservation management measures by interested parties including, but not limited to, the managing environmental authority CARDIQUE.
The Varadero reef is the only surviving marine ecosystem in the entire Cartagena area. Rediscovered in 2013, they comprise 1.12 km2 of reefs, seagrasses, mangroves, and islands of extraordinary beauty. The coral reef survey at the Reef Check Cartagena is carried out with the support of the Ecotono Corporation and its Salvemos Varadero initiative. Likewise, it has the endorsement and support of CARDIQUE. It is a pleasure for Corales de Paz to know that our work supports their management and contributes to the conservation and monitoring of the marine ecosystems of their interest.
The Reef Check Cartagena promises to be an intense citizen science experience for all, which supports the protection and management actions of Varadero coral reef, Colombia´s heroic reef.
If you are interested in participating in a Reef Check expedition, don’t hesitate and sign up! You would not feel any regret. Remember that you don’t need to be a scientist or a biologist, you just need your passion and love for the ocean and all the incredible living creatures that inhabit it. Our team of scientists will provide all knowledge and training to engage you adequately in the process of collecting coral reef health data.
In this expedition Corales de Paz and DeepCo pilot the UMapTool, a project collaboration to use digital imagery – photomosaics – to produce two-dimensional and three-dimensional benthic images, spatially georeferenced with high resolution, of Colombia´s coral reefs.
The Cartagena Reef Check is your opportunity to help protect Varadero´s Reef, a World´s Hope Spot, and the only coral reef in the Bay of Cartagena. Varadero´s Reef has survived more than 500 years of human pressure. Thanks to the work of Salvemos Varadero and Corporación Ecotono, it was designated a Hope Spot by Mission Blue in 2018 in an attempt to protect it from its destruction. With your participation, you contribute to the management and research that seeks to protect this surviving heroic reef in the area.
English 
Spanish
Program Reviews
Durante el fin de semana del 22 al 25 de agosto pasado, tuve grata oportunidad de vivir una primera vez en cuatro años de labor voluntaria en defensa y gobernanza ambiental de los Corales de Varadero. Es que es, y sigue siendo extraño, que un no-biólogo, con temor al agua, haya estado defendiendo algo que jamás había visto de frente durante sus 39 años de edad cronológica. Como quien dice: cree y confía en lo que quieres, sin necesidad alguna de verle o sentirle. Eso mismo ocurrió en Varadero: el equipo de Ecodivers de Corales de Paz liderados por Phanor y la bióloga Ángela Alegría-Ortega, en medio de su experticia y cientificidad, hizo un invaluable espacio para yo (siquiera) pudiera re-aprender a patalear en el agua.
Leave a Review