My Goodness!!!!!!

[Hammerhead]

archman,

See this thread to make it all as clear as mud.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=118340&page=1

I still reckon my letter on page 9 was pretty good.

Cheers, and good to see you here.

 

[Xizang]

so what does it say?? is it a name of a person??

 

[Bruciebabe]

It's hardly suprising that this has come up again. The problem will not just go away on it's own.
There are 4 solutions, all of which need to be implemented.
1) Conservation zones, national parks etc. The reefs worldwide need more of this protection. However unless they are staffed and policed they are useless. They just exist on paper and are ignored. Good models for running a park are Bunaken near Manado in Indonesia and Bonaire in the Caribbean. Both of these require an annual fee from divers to pay to run the place properly.
2) Audit by training agencies. It is obvious that the maintainance of standards has completely broken down in some places. When many divers from one place are so incredibly bad someone needs to look at their qualifications and report the situation to the training agency involved.
3) Dive centres and dive guides need to take responsibilty. It is no good just taking the money for a short term profit whist the environment that people come to see is being destroyed. Diving can bring huge amounts of money to an economy, just look at Egypt. However travelling divers can choose where they go to spend their money and they aren't going to go where the reefs are wrecked. This is why Egypt has banned gloves whilst diving and banned shark fishing.
4) Government involvement. It is no good passing laws to protect the environment and slapping each other on the back about how good we all are without ensuring that the law is implemented. When you come to a country and see the cops at the airport waiting area blatantly taking backhanders to allow vehicles to stop and load you know that the problems are institutional. When the local government has said "no more dive centres" in a certain place yet still new ones open, you know why.

btw I am back in PG from 6 to 23 Feb.

 

[Kim]

That is a disgusting way for someone who writes Korean to behave. From that sort of behavior it's easy to see why they do the Korean people a huge disservice. Was this in any kind of national park?

 

[jonix]

Was this in any kind of national park?

no, but i recall somebody posted that the site "Twin Rocks" is a proposed santuary site. I just dove there last december with caloy and the site was, to say the least, amazing at night...to think that the deepest we got was around 40-50ft.

 

[Xizang]

Was this in any kind of national park?

A marine sancturary (no-take zone) which is currently part of an on-going discussion with the local government on a resolution passed 2 years ago banning any activity in the area.

 

[Kim]

no, but i recall somebody posted that the site "Twin Rocks" is a proposed santuary site. I just dove there last december with caloy and the site was, to say the least, amazing at night...to think that the deepest we got was around 40-50ft.

That's a pity as otherwise there would probably a way to follow it up legally. You guys have a lot on your hands to try to stop stuff like this. I don't know any country in the world that would accept this kind of thing.

 

[Xizang]

That's a pity as otherwise there would probably a way to follow it up legally. You guys have a lot on your hands to try to stop stuff like this. I don't know any country in the world that would accept this kind of thing.

my honest opinion.. nothing will happen to it, legally that is. Probably just a bunch of heated postings in forums such as this..

 

[Spoon]

That is a disgusting way for someone who writes Korean to behave. From that sort of behavior it's easy to see why they do the Korean people a huge disservice. Was this in any kind of national park?

its part of a marine sanctuary and as axua mentioned part of the no take zone. its a shame that the culprits pay marine park fees only to vandalize the reefs they are actually trying to protect.

 

[Spoon]

my honest opinion.. nothing will happen to it, legally that is. Probably just a bunch of heated postings in forums such as this..

i agree unless you can bring it up with the Anilao resort owners association. Mr. Joel is the president.