In the mid-1990's a group of concerned men and women began looking for ways to proactively protect the BVI's marine environment. Charter yacht captain Trish Baily suggested a poster outlining steps snorkelers, divers, and boaters could take to reduce damage to reefs, and the loose-knit group of friends and colleagues began to brainstorm.  In addition to Trish, this group included Alan and Eva Baskin, dive company owners who helped initiate the BVI National Parks Trust Mooring Buoy system; Clive Petrovic, lecturer in Environmental Sciences at the H. Lavity Stout Community College in Tortola; Randy Keil, respected dive instructor with years of experience in BVI waters, Chris and Kapua Gregory, Jane Bakewell, and Clem Hill. The esteemed artist Roger Ellis of Trellis Bay agreed to design the flyer artwork gratis.  Initially the group sought funding for the flyers under the auspices of the Natural History Society. It took nine months to raise the $7,500 needed, most of which came from trust companies and local businesses in the BVI. The Tortola Ladies Club and TICO Wines and Spirits were major contributors. Volunteers distributed the flyers to bareboat charter yacht companies, tourist organizations, and local businesses, and they were soon posted throughout the BVI. Shortly after the success of the posters, this group of friends and colleagues decided to form a reef protection organization. Kapua Gregory, now living in Hawaii, came up with the logo, and the Association of Reef Keepers was born.  ARK membership expanded with new volunteers and new ideas. Continuing its campaign to educate the public, it began briefing bareboat companies on reef ecology and distributed a pamphlet explaining the dangers of feeding fish. In 1997 ARK promoted the International Year of the Reef, and for the last several years has participated in the Yacht Charter Society Boat Show, hosting a breakfast to educate crews and brokers. ARK initiated the Erosion and Sedimentation Workshop, and has provided aid to transport school children to environmental field days.  Through its participation in environmental workshops and conferences, ARK has developed liaisons with marine environment organizations around the world, and also proudly participates in Reef Check, a worldwide effort to raise awareness about the state of coral reefs. The BVI Government has recognized ARK as a responsible NGO, inviting ARK to participate in workshops such as NIDS (National Integrated Development Strategy), the Collection of Capture Fishery Data Workshop, and partnering in several Erosion and Sedimentation workshops.  ARK was also a sponsor of the GCFI conference held at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College in November 2003, and received the BVI Chamber of Commerce & Hotel Association Environmental Award in November 2003.  In September of 2005, due to a gradual decline in volunteer participation, ARK decided to grant the bulk of its funds to Island Resources Foundation, an organization dedicated to solving the environmental problems of development in small islands.  We chose Island Resources Foundation because of its track record for producing results beneficial to the BVI environment.  Since then ARK's primary focus has been to coordinate the annual Reef Check surveys here in the BVI and to continue disseminating it reef protection flyers.  In just the last two years we have distributed over 12,000 flyers throughout the wider Caribbean and we proudly sponsored a Spanish version in Puerto Rico. Our latest project has been to sponsor the BVI Government's Conservation & Fisheries' production of a documentary outlining development issues facing the BVI.  Click here for more information.