FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2014
GUY HARVEY BRINGS AWARENESS TO FLORIDA REEFS
~Guy Harvey and five southeast Florida
residents speak up for coral reefs~
TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Environmental
Protection’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, in partnership with the Southeast
Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI), premiered a series of six 30-second
public service announcements (PSAs) today focusing on southeast Florida coral
reefs and the Our Florida Reefs Community Planning Process. Among the diverse
group of talent featured in the PSAs was world-renowned marine life artist Guy Harvey, as well as local celebrities and reef users.
“I
am thrilled to support the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection’s ‘Our Florida Reefs’ campaign,” said Harvey. “Coral reefs are crucial to the South Florida environment and economy.
It is important that the public understands the issues facing the reefs and
what can be done to protect them.”
Like
Guy Harvey, the spokespeople in the videos use their own words to say why southeast Florida’s coral reefs are important to them personally. Segments feature
a local dive shop owner from Singer Island, a professional kite boarder and
marine biologist from Palm Beach, a school teacher from Miami who enjoys
seafood, a father and son who love fishing from local piers, and a local charter
fishing legend, Bouncer Smith, from Miami’s South Beach. Local radio
personality, Wanda Myles, also made a cameo in two mash up PSAs, lending her
voice to the effort. Two of the spokesperson PSAs are featured in Spanish and
English.
Before
closing the endorsements, the spokespeople encourage viewers to visit the Our Florida Reefs
website to engage in the planning process. The process
brings together the community of local residents, reef users, business owners,
visitors and the broader public in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin
counties to discuss the future of coral reefs in this region.
“The SEFCRI project team and production team
did an excellent job with these PSAs. It was an added bonus to have Guy Harvey
step in to lend his voice to the project and we are grateful for the five others
who volunteered their time to participate. It was a great project with a
stellar outcome and we look forward to seeing them aired on local stations
throughout southeast Florida over the coming year,” said Jamie Monty, manager of
the department’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.
The
PSAs begin airing today and will run on various stations throughout southeast
Florida over the next year.
Visit
OurFloridaReefs.org to view the PSAs and for information about the
community planning process for southeast Florida’s coral reefs.
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