Volunteers from US-based oil major Chevron have stepped up to protect and restore the endangered coral reefs off the shore of Columbia.
The country has 440,000 acres of coral reef that is endangered under its busy shipping lanes. A number of volunteers from Chevron, the maker of the Texaco lubricant range, led by the corporate affairs advisor for Central America and Colombia, Alejandro Riveros, recognised an opportunity to remedy this.
In cooperation with science-based reef protection group Corales de Paz, the Energy Reefs programme was initiated. The Santa Marta Isla Fuerte, Varadero, Providencia and Rincón del Mar reefs have been identified for restoration.
Corales de Paz Communication Manager Juliana Rodríguez, said:
“We want the communities that live near coral reefs to be educated in the care of marine biodiversity, to be empowered by their ecosystem and to become the main protectors, so they continue to carry out monitoring and apply the knowledge acquired.”
Coastal development and other factors have led to four-fifths of the coral reef in the Caribbean being lost according to UNESCO in 2022. The Energy Reefs programme is the largest scale plan to rebuild reef in the Americas.
An area the size of 374 football fields, some 494 acres, needed to be restored just for the One Million Corals for Colombia project. Volunteers from Chevron, where offshore activity is part of the daily routine, joined the effort to grow a million pieces of coral. Journalists, experts, community members and leaders from the local community also took part in the endeavour.
