So excited about protection and conservation development going on in South Africa at the moment - volunteer divers are needed so drop me an email if you would like to find out what is going on and get involved!! SAUES (the Southern African Underwater Ecology Society) a non-profit organisation is dedicated to the protection and conservation of Marine Life and Coral Reefs through education, service and research. SAUES has been actively involved in Coral Reef research off the South African and Mozambican Coastline since 1995, it participated as the Southern African Co-Coordinator for the global monitoring Reef Check program between 1997-2001, located and plotted between 1992-1995 all the reefs between Ponta D’ Ouro and Ponta Mamoli, represented GCRMN and REEF CHECK at the World Summit in Jhb in 2001, conducted marine research with Kwa Zulu Coastal Management and has been the first and only organisation in Africa to utilize sport scuba divers and marine scientists alike to jointly participate in Coral Reef research. In 2008 the “Year of The Reef”, it is anticipated that up to 300 organisations, 400 scientist and up to 40 000 divers will take part in Reef Check surveys to monitor and determine the health and status of Coral & Rocky Reefs worldwide. SAUES will spend the remaining part of 2007 training sport divers to participate in research dives and by 2008 hopes that the majority of South African divers will be qualified in order to assist in the Reef Check global monitoring project on Coral & Rocky Reef systems off our coastline. In addition it is anticipated that in the next 2 years SAUES and its contingent of marine scientist and sport divers will have deployed numerous Artificial Reef systems off the SA coast which will dramatically assist in reducing erosion, increase fish & marine organism stocks and allow resource managers an opportunity to relieve pressure off existing reef ecosystems.