The rebranding of the Green Fins initiative represents its global reach and evolution for the past 18 years.
The Reef-World Foundation – international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – reveals the Green Fins rebrand today. The charity is introducing an updated logo and Branding & Communication Guidelines to represent the initiative’s global expansion, the evolution of its network, the creation of strong foundations for sustainable marine tourism, and the inclusivity of all its stakeholders.
The rebrand comes as the urgency of Green Fins’ work ramping up due to climate change impacts, and as the initiative continues to grow and adapt from a simple code of conduct to an ever-expanding sustainable network throughout the marine tourism industry, extensively increasing the reach of Green Fins messaging and practices globally. To date, the initiative has spread to 14 countries and connected with thousands of divers, dive professionals and operators worldwide.
The long-standing identifiable logo has been around since the initiative’s inception in 2004 — 18 years ago. After an in-depth brand audit and market research, the team decided to refresh it to enhance and align it with the brand’s design standards, inclusive of all stakeholders and the significant changes coming to Green Fins in the near future. To coincide with the need for a global identity to reach a global scale, the rebranding exercise includes the Branding & Communication Guidelines that incorporate the different elements that make up the identities of both The Reef-World Foundation and Green Fins.
Juliana Corrales, Creative Consultant at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “It was essential for us to go through this process with our stakeholders involved. The logo is the most important element of a brand and it should accurately represent its purpose. Green Fins has evolved massively since its inception and the brand identity needed to catch up to current standards. The product that you can see now comes from many conversations with the people behind the initiative, representing them in the best way possible.”
The redesign of the logo has undergone a meticulous process for an end product that represents all Green Fins stakeholders and the primary ecosystem that the network aims to protect — the coral reefs. The inclusion of coral is not a common element used in marine tourism branding thus, Reef-World believes it highlights Green Fins as a conservation initiative from a tourism operator. To preserve the logo’s recognisability, the identifiable green colour and fins representing all types of marine tourism stakeholders’ close relationship with the ocean are kept in the new logo.
The rebrand reflects the growth of the Green Fins initiative and lays the foundations for updates in the pipeline that will expand the reach of Green Fins. The charity plans to update the procedure Green Fins Members are being managed, via a new membership structure and digital platform. The changes further establish Green Fins as an initiative that takes heed of its network’s needs and intends to continue doing so to have a stronger conservation impact.
James Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “Green Fins has come a long way since its roots back in 2004 with some incredible achievements. The approach has managed to connect governments and businesses in a way we never thought possible whilst helping communities at the heart of where we focus our work, coral reefs. Everyone in the Green Fins network has worked hard in the evolution of Green Fins and that has made Green Fins what it is today. Laying strong foundations for a healthier relationship between marine tourism and marine ecosystems on a global scale. We are really pleased with the outcome of the logo and we hope that this new and fresh looking logo will become even more recognisable than the last one, becoming a well-known brand amongst tourists.”
Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “Reef-World recognises that to reach a global scale, we need a global identity that is inclusive of all our stakeholders. We’d also like to think of the rebranding as a celebration of Green Fins’ new milestone, the upcoming new membership structure and the digital platform developed to meet the growing demand for Green Fins launching later this year. The aim is to align the rebrand with the new changes and the charity’s value to be innovative. We will always continue to evolve and support the needs of the marine tourism industry and conservation effort worldwide.”
Green Fins is the only internationally recognised environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators, established through a partnership between the UN Environment Programme and The Reef-World Foundation. Green Fins uses a unique and proven three-pronged approach; green certifications of dive centres, strengthening regulations and environmental education for dive staff, divers and government.
