TY - JOUR AU - Eloy, Christinne Costa AU - França, Henrique E. C. AU - Massei, Karina PY - 2021/12/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - DISSEMINATION OF SCIENCE AND CORAL REEFS CONSERVATION AT PARAÍBA STATE, SOUTH WEST ATLANTIC JF - Environmental Smoke JA - Environ. Smoke VL - 4 IS - 3 SE - Full Articles DO - 10.32435/envsmoke.20214345-52 UR - https://environmentalsmoke.com.br/index.php/EnvSmoke/article/view/173 SP - 45-52 AB - <p>The health of the ocean directly reflects the well-being of humanity. Global changes caused by the increase in human population are already affecting all natural systems, endangering the biological support of the planet and greatly impacting marine ecosystems. To meet the 2030 agenda and expand international cooperation around SDG 14 - to conserve and sustainably use the oceans - the United Nations has declared a Decade of Ocean Science (2021-2030). Cutting across the Western South Atlantic, one of the most threatened marine ecosystems are the coral reefs of northeastern Brazil. Characterized by a small number of species, but strong endemism, they are fundamental to the ecological and economic balance of the region. The natural pools that are formed in the coastal reefs are intensively explored by tourist visitation and, despite having two Marine Conservation Units protected by law, management and inspection problems threaten the biodiversity conservation, besides the lack of information on its importance and vulnerability. Aiming to investigate the process of science communication to the general public, a survey of dissemination texts related to the theme in the period 2018 to 2020 - from the Google News platform - was conducted to identify how many and which of them addressed issues related to the coral reefs of Paraiba, in addition to the perception of the presence of experts giving voice to these contents. The results point to the almost null incidence of disclosure about these environments, to the extent that this ecosystem has faced a degradation process virtually unknown to society in general, which may reflect in the inappropriate behaviors found in some visitors. This is an alert for the need to expand the dissemination of investigations developed by research institutes and universities on coral reef ecosystems in the region, adding efforts to the Communication and Engagement Plan built for the Ocean Decade. The dissemination of science is undoubtedly an essential tool for society's engagement for a healthy ocean.</p> ER -