The Green Fins approach for monitoring and promoting environmentally sustainable scuba diving operations in South East Asia

• Scuba diving tourism activities can damage coral reefs and other coastal habitats.
• We present an approach for environmentally sustainable diving operations.
• The Green Fins Code of Conduct and associated management approach is described.
• A case study from the Philippines shows the approach reduces environmental risk.
• Wider scale implementation of the approach is recommended.

An expansion of coral reef tourism around the world has resulted in growing concern about the associated environmental impacts. Coral reefs, and other coastal habitats, are threatened by a variety of direct and indirect impacts caused by irresponsible snorkelling and scuba diving practices. Green Fins is a conservation initiative that works with dive centres to promote a set of standards for environmentally sustainable dive tourism activities. Through the implementation of the Green Fins Code of Conduct and a robust assessment system to monitor compliance, it aims to reduce the impact of stressors to reefs and associated ecosystems, thereby enhancing their resilience to larger scale threats. A network of Green Fins certified dive centres has been successfully established across the popular diving region of South East Asia. This paper presents an overview of the Code of Conduct and associated assessment protocol, and using the Philippines as a case study, evaluates and demonstrates its effectiveness as a comprehensive and sustainable management tool for the protection of marine ecosystems. The findings from the Philippines indicate that implementation of the Green Fins approach promotes compliance with environmental standards and may significantly reduce the impact of the diving industry on the marine environment.