118 ROTARY REEFS FOR 118 YEARS OF ROTARY
This project supports Rotary International’s new 7th Area of Focus: the environment .

Coral reefs are one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. Some of their amazing functions include:

Provide food, income, and protection to over 500,000,000 people worldwide
Provide shelter to over 4,000 species of fish
Protect coastlines from storms and erosion
Provide tourism destinations and jobs to local communities
Act as keystone species to help keep balance in ecosystems
These ecosystems are a vital part of our functioning planet. Unfortunately coral reefs are dying, and they need our help. Effects of climate change and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease are the lead killers of coral reefs. Climate change impacts such as ocean acidification and warming waters, and contributing to coral bleaching. The most recent mass coral bleaching in 2017 affected more than 70% of coral reefs. Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease is the deadliest coral disease ever recorded. The disease destroys the soft tissue coral within weeks of becoming infected.

We have less than 5% of Reef Building Coral left in Florida and less than 7% in Panama. If we don’t act now, these keystone coral species will become extinct, leaving the integral ecosystems that are reefs to degrade and become unable to support any of the thousands of other aquatic species that rely on them for life every single day. 

In the 2022-2023 Rotary Year (the 118th year of Rotary), 118 Rotary Reefs will be constructed.

Building of 1 Rotary Reef that will be dedicated to your club and 2022-2023 President
Establishing a Coral Reef Seed Bank
GPS coordinates of your reef
6 month and 1 year update videos of your Rotary Reef
Every member of your club will receive a complementary Source to Sea Plastics Education weekly planner
Planting of 50  Casurina trees, a native keystone species in Tanzania and Zanzibar 

Support our Rotary Reef program to help restore the vital coral reefs of Tanzanua and Zanzibar .We are working as fast as we can to save species from extinction but need Rotarians help!