The Green Fins Programme is an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme.

It was launched in 2004 in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines. The Green Fins mission statement is “to protect and conserve coral reefs by establishing and implementing environmentally friendly guidelines to promote a sustainable diving tourism industry” In Thailand, the responsibility of implementing the project lies with the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), part of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and located on Cape Panwa at the South East corner of the island.

The GREEN FINS Programme has 2 parts:

• Environmental-friendly dive & snorkel guidelines (Code of Conduct for Tour Operators)
• REEF WATCH reef monitoring method

In 2004 and 2005, dive operators all over Thailand signed a Code of Conduct that aims to ensure that reefs and surrounded waters are protected from pollution and other damage.
For more details of the Code of Conduct, click here

In 2006 and continuing throughout 2007, Reef-World is assisting by carrying out assessments of participating dive operators and by implementing training for the reef monitoring method used by Green Fins Thailand, Reef Watch.

This is an adaptation of Dr Elizabeth Wood’s method and is a simple easy way to assess the health of a reef while on a single dive without the use of transects or other equipment, other than an underwater slate for recording findings. For more details about the method, please visit www.greenfins-thailand.org