Mission Hub Program: Green Fins

What is Green Fins?

Green Fins is a Reef-World Foundation initiative that protects and conserves coral reefs through environmental guidelines that promote a sustainable diving and snorkeling industry.

In partnership with the UN Environment Program, Reef-World drives sustainable behaviors for environmental protection by providing low-cost and practical solutions to local and industry-wide environmental challenges associated with marine tourism. It offers education and capacity-building assistance to empower environmental champions to implement proven coastal resource management approaches.

Since 2018, PADI has worked in partnership with The Reef World Foundation to realize the potential of our community as an example of how a global industry can successfully support people, planet and profit.

In 2022, together with PADI AWARE Foundation we launched the diving industry's most complete environmental accreditation, PADI Eco Center. Alongside participation in PADI AWARE's Adopt the Blue program, each PADI Eco Center demonstrates exemplary environmental performance through Reef-World's Green Fins initiative.

Our shared vision is to make sustainable diving and snorkeling the social norm, thereby improving the health of coral reefs across the global ocean.

16 Years of Protection

600+ Dive Centers

20% Average Sustainability Improvement

With PADI's support, Reef-World recently conducted a survey about sustainability in a recovering travel world.

Over 2,400 responses were received from divers, freedivers and snorkelers in over 115 countries. Survey participants offered a broad range of perspectives spanning freedivers and one-time DSD divers through to dive professionals and business owners with over 10 years experience in our industry. Here's what we learnt:

Download the full report

Our Strategy

Reduce the global environmental footprint of the dive industry, ensuring dive industry sustainability.

Key Actions (1) Encourage PADI operators to adopt the Green Fins Code of Conduct (2) Raise industry-wide behavioral norms so that environmental standards are as respected and second only to safety standards.

Local Action

Green Fins Standards

PADI’s dive centers, resorts and professionals adopting and educating divers on Green Fins standards. Recreational divers seeking out Green Fins Members to dive with, supporting sustainable change our ocean needs.

Global Impact

Sustainable Marine Tourism

A global dive industry that takes environmental standards as seriously as safety standards. A global dive community that is engaged with sustainability and knows exactly how to protect marine life when diving.

Support the Change Our Ocean Needs

Which of these Green Fins Icons do you already follow?

Your example will influence those around you, paving the way for a future where humanity lives in balance with the ocean.

More Green Fins Materials

Are you a PADI Dive Center, Resort or Liveaboard? Become a Green Fins Member today.

Green Fins members are dive or snorkel operators who agree to follow the Green Fins Code of Conduct, are based in an active Green Fins location and have signed the membership form. Members receive annual assessments, training and feedback to help them improve their environmental sustainability.

An active Green Fins country is a destination whose Government has adopted the programme, and has trained Green Fins assessors who are qualified to recruit, train and conduct assessments of dive and snorkel operators in that country. These are:

Dive and snorkel centers operating in active Certified Green Fins locations can become members by signing (and sending in) the membership form and pledging to follow the Green Fins Code of Conduct. One of the Green Fins team will then be in touch to organize your first assessment.

Dive and snorkel centres who aren’t in an active Green Fins location can still become full Green Fins Active Digital Members with the Green Fins Digital Hub.

To learn more and become a Digital Member, visit greenfins.net/digital-membership/

If you're just getting started and want to test the waters before diving into membership, here's a few ways that you can get involved:

Starting to reduce their environmental impact by visiting the Downloads section of the Green Fins website where all materials are completely free to download and use. Just print them out and start using them in your business today!
Following Green Fins on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the latest updates and news on sustainable diving.

Visit the Downloads section of the Green Fins website where all materials are completely free to download and use. Just print them out and start promoting them to dive managers, guides and customers.

Yes! Green Fins materials are available in a variety of languages, and we are working together to continually increase the languages and materials available. If you can't find a material you would like in your languages, please get in touch on [email protected] and we will do our best to help you.

The Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course is the only course which teaches dive professionals how to prevent diving-related damage to coral reefs by following the highest environmental standards, as set out by the Green Fins initiative. Learn more here: https://greenfins.net/green-fins-dive-guide/

DGEC

A new global platform for Green Fins Certified Members and Green Fins Digital Members to manage their sustainability journey. Learn more at greenfins.net/hub-guide/

PADI Eco Centers are the premier choice for all divers, adventurers and travel experts seeking ocean-first, marine conscious operators that place sustainability at the top of their agenda.

Green Fins Membership is one of three criteria that a PADI Operators must meet to qualify as a PADI Eco Center:

1. participation in the PADI AWARE Adopt the Blue™ program
2. be an active Green Fins Member
3. demonstrate an exemplary level of environmental best practice, through the above programs

These requirements were selected to advance the PADI Blueprint for Ocean Action and support the PADI Pillars of Change, designed to integrate the core values of conservation and dive industry sustainability across the entire PADI network. We recommend operators give themselves at least 12 months to meet the minimum standards required for this designation.

To learn more, please visit PADI Eco Center | PADI

Community Spotlight

Sam Craven

Reef-World’s Programmes Manager, based in the Philippines.

"There are about 30 million certified scuba divers out there with 1 million new divers certified each year. Looking at the collective industry, we want to see how we can do even better to work with nature instead of against it. That’s the ethos at the heart of what Green Fins is trying to do."

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