Celebrate Earth Day by helping to protect threatened Caribbean parrotfish! We’re launching our first-ever crowdfunding campaign today to support efforts to protect theses gorgeous and important fish around the remote Colombian island of Providencia.

A healthy population of parrotfish is a matter of life and death for a coral reef. The fish eat harmful macroalgae, which if left unchecked will smother and ultimately kill coral. And those beautiful sandy tropical beaches? They wouldn’t be there without parrotfish, which help break down rocks and dead coral to form sand. Colorful parrotfish are also a treat for divers and snorkelers, supporting ecotourism.

But around Providencia Island, parrotfish numbers are in decline. They are increasingly being targeted as other kinds of fish become scarcer. Providencia’s coral reefs are still some of the healthiest in the Caribbean—but to keep them that way, we need to preserve the parroftish before it’s too late.

Working with local NGO Fundacion Providence, our campaign will fund an educational campaign on Providencia, in support of a ban on catching parrotfish. It will include a video to inform the local fishing community about the ecological importance of parrotfish, classroom presentations and materials for schoolchildren, TV and radio programming, and more.

We welcome donations of any amount to our crowdfunding effort at seacology.org/parrotfish. We would also appreciate your help in spreading the word about it over the next two months. We have some great gifts for donors, from Seacology shirts and tote bags all the way up to a trip to Providencia to see our project in action!

We hope that you’ll help us make this campaign a success. Thank you!