「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」應用於海洋保育教育之探討

Abstract

「珊瑚礁體檢」(Reef Check)是一個國際非營利組織(Reef Check Foundation)所倡議的全球珊瑚礁監測行動，自1997年展開第一次體檢引起關注，目前已成為聯合國的官方珊瑚礁監測計劃，定期在90多個國家召集民間志願潛水員到珊瑚礁區檢測，紀錄指標性魚類、無脊椎動物等做為「珊瑚礁體檢」的數據；並藉由各地潛水志工之參與，辦理「生態潛水員課程」(EcoDiver Program)訓練，培育當地社區人才及推動社區型(Community-based)珊瑚礁保育計畫。「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」亦於1997年由海洋學者發起，2009年起轉由台灣環境資訊協會每年號召民間潛水愛好者加入調查行動，涵蓋台灣東北海岸、綠島、蘭嶼、小琉球、澎湖等地。「珊瑚礁體檢」具有定時檢核海洋健康狀態、號召大眾對珊瑚礁的關心、認知及參與保育之功能；然而，目前此項行動對台灣大眾及沿海與離島社區之參與度及教育功能仍不夠普及。本研究探討「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」的發展歷程、這項行動如何應用於海洋保育教育以及其推廣的策略。 研究結果顯示，「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」的發展在於執行這項行動的核心人力及專業不足、不穩定的合作夥伴關係以及參與志工的組成使得行動難以擴充調查的範圍。「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」的海洋保育教育面臨師資專業不足、課程設計欠缺理想以及課程萎縮的困境。台灣環境資訊協會雖然運用了多元化的策略推廣「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」，但是由於推廣主題是設在廣大的海洋保育議題而缺乏聚焦在珊瑚礁保育，這難以深化民眾對這項行動的理解。此外，主辦單位在珊瑚礁體檢的區域缺乏在地社區推廣及交流，這導致難以實現在地社區參與行動的目標。依據研究結果，本研究對於「台灣珊瑚礁體檢」的未來挑戰、海洋保育教育、行動推廣以及未來研究方向提出建議。”Reef Check Foundation” is an international non-profit organization dedicated to coral reef conservation and “Reef Check” is the United Nations' official community-based reef monitoring program with volunteer teams in more than 90 countries. Public involvement, their EcoDiver Program and promoting community-based coral reef conservation are the goals of the foundation. “Reef Check Taiwan” was launched in 1997 by marine researchers, after which Taiwan Environmental Information Associaton (TEIA), a non-profit organization took over in 2009 which emphasized on public involvement in reef checking. The Reef Check is being executed in Taiwan North and East Coast, Green Island, Orchid Island, Little Liuqiu Island and Penghu Archipelago annually. "Reef Check Taiwan" performs regular health checks of the coral reefs and aims at raising public interest, awareness and also participation in marine conservation actions. However, at present, public as well as coastal and island communities’ participation are fairly limited in reach. The aim of this research is to study the development of “Reef Check Taiwan” and its potential value in fostering coral reef conservation education and a more focused promotion strategy. The results show that the development of implementing “Reef Check’s” actions in a professional& organized manner is hardly mature. Due to the instability of partnerships and volunteers’ participation, the expansion of their program’s & activities’ scope remains difficult. “Reef Check Taiwan” seems to face a shortage in professional teachers and skilled workforce to design their curricula as well as a lack of an ideal strategy to eliminate these shortcomings. Although TEIA is applying a wide range of strategies to promote "Reef Check Taiwan", it remains difficult to deepen the public’s understanding of their actions. This is mainly due to their marketing activities being spread across a vast number of marine conservation issues and their lack of focus on the conservation of coral reefs. In addition the lack of the organizers’ general outreach and communication to communities makes it difficult to achieve the objectives to get local communities more involved in their operations. Based on the results of this study for the "Reef Check Tawian" organization regarding future challenges, recommendations are provided for marine education and actions to promote their activities as well as additional fields for future research.