PADI and Project AWARE are calling on divers and underwater photographers for their help in gathering images of the world’s threatened marine animals and plants by contributing their images to ARKive, the UK-based charity whose mission is to promote conservation through wildlife imagery.Threatened marine species make up just ten percent of the current material held in ARKive, reflecting just how hard these films and photographs are to collect, so the divers underwater images are urgently needed to help fill the watery gaps in the rapidly growing library.Many divers, amateur and professional alike, take fabulous photographs of a broad range of threatened species, so this is an opportunity to work with ARKive and help the wide variety of amazing animals and plants that give pleasure to so many divers. Photographs and video give these threatened species a face, they give those who won’t ever be lucky enough to see them in the wild the chance to understand their characteristics, their biology and the threats they are currently facing.“Underwater photos can describe the beauty and diversity of our underwater environments as well as highlight the urgent need for conservation. It’s crucial that divers contribute their photos to a good cause and help bring attention to the plight of the world’s endangered marine species” says Suzanne Pleydell, Project AWARE Foundation (International) Director. “It’s hard to raise support for an animal that has no face in the media and good underwater images can make a huge difference” adds Suzanne.

PADI International Limited Director, and passionate underwater photographer, Mark Caney, comments “Divers are so fortunate and privileged to be able to experience the beauty and wonders of the underwater world. I encourage divers to donate their images to give ARKive the best means possible in their quest to raise awareness for the world’s underwater creatures”.

ARKive promotes conservation and builds environmental awareness through wildlife photographs, films and sound clips – which are being pledged by many of the world’s top photographers and filmmakers. The aim is to produce a global, centralized record of all 16,928 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This will provide an invaluable conservation tool - a quick, easy and free online source of information for anyone keen to learn more or to help with conservation efforts.

A list of the ‘most wanted’ images is published on the ARKive website http://www.arkive.org/ and to check out if your species appears on the Red List see http://www.redlist.org/. Anyone wishing to donate images can e-mail ARKive’s media research team – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or upload to www.flickr.com/groups/arkive using the tag ‘marine’. For more information about underwater photography visit http://www.projectaware.org/ and the 10 Tips for underwater photographers.

So far around 38,000 films and images have been given a safe-haven in the ARKive digital vault. More than 3,000 media donors are actively contributing to the project, from major broadcasters, film and photo libraries to conservation organizations and academic institutes, as well as many individual filmmakers and photographers. All media is donated freely on the understanding that it will be used as a resource for scientists, conservationists, educators and the general public, and not for commercial purposes.

Notes:

ARKive is a not-for-profit initiative of Wildscreen, a UK-based charity whose mission is to promote conservation through wildlife imagery - http://www.arkive.org/ .

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. For more information, see www.iucn.org/redlist.
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