SeaWeb Launches Too Precious To Wear Campaign

Look at the material in the above image. It's lustrous. It's exquisite. It's red and pink coral--the harvested raw material for high-end jewelry and delicate, carved artifacts. It's also a seriously threatened species. If you recall some of my posts from last summer, shouts of joy quickly turned into cries of frustration when red and pink coral (known by the genus Corallium) was first granted trade protection at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, and then suddenly stripped of its protection thanks to an eleventh-hour, closed-door filibuster by nations complicit in the coral trade. What's a conservationist to do?

If you're like me, you get behind SeaWeb's Too Precious To Wear campaign and help build increased awareness around this important issue. While I was in DC last week for a week of coral conservation meetings, SeaWeb launched its Too Precious To Wear campaign in New York City. Aided by the celebrity power of Julia Louis-Dreyfus (she'll always be Elaine to me!) and leading fashion and home designers, SeaWeb kicked-off this ambitious campaign to raise awareness of corals and the threats to their survival and show how the fashion and design industries, as well as consumers, can safeguard these imperiled marine species.

SeaWeb secured the financial support and commitment of The Tiffany & Co. Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to begin the process of changing perceptions and attitudes. Just as similar campaigns raised public awareness about the trade in ivory and fur (which had drastic implication for the survival of critically endangered elephants and fur species such as tigers) and effectively eliminated the international trade in these products, Too Precious To Wear targets high-end jewelry manufacturers and consumers through educational messaging that provides sustainable alternatives to critically depleted red and pink corals.

While I certainly had my hands full in DC with meetings, I wish I could have made the New York launch. But thanks to a little serendipity, I got to experience it vicariously at last Friday's International Year of the Reef mini-symposium at the Mexican Cultural Institute. There, I finally had the chance to meet SeaWeb's Corals Program Manager, Liz Neeley. Liz was fresh from the New York launch and presented an overview of the campaign for attendees. As an aside, she was also looking fierce in a room full of coral conservationists who tend to be a bit couture challenged.

One aspect of the campaign Liz described that I find particularly creative is that SeaWeb has successfully partnered with companies committed to providing faux-coral or coral-inspired alternatives to the real thing. One such company, Chantecaille Beaute, produces a coral-inspired compact (pictured above) that's not only stunning (stunning in price, too), but a portion of the proceeds go towards programs to aid in the preservation of coral reefs against the detrimental effects of global warming. Talk about Making it work!

Do I have a problem with weaning people's cravings for coral jewelry or trinkets from the genuine article onto imitations? Shouldn't an informed public not covet threatened species in the first place? I guess I take a pragmatic approach. If a campaign like Too Precious To Wear can not only educate but--more importantly--change consumer demand then I'm all for it. I suspect we'll always find inspiration from the natural world. If creative minds can satisfy our cravings for natural designs with intelligent, sustainable alternatives that preserve that which inspired us in the first place, then it's a no-brainer.