What marine conservation groups deserve divers' $$$?

[Mr T(urtle)]

I agree with the education part, if the oceans are to be conserved for the long term the culture and mindset of communities needs to be addressed. The facts are simple what you cant see you dont care about and it is the everyday person who is contributing to the decline to the seas.

I run a marine conservation project in Malaysia and believe in long term conservation not just 2-3 years but 20 to 40 years. Our project presently runs an afterschool club at the primary school on the Perhentian Islands Malaysia. We visit everymonth and teach the children about how there activities on the land affects the marine life. Last year we heard the children telling off some older villagers for throwing fishing line into the sea as it will suffocate turtles. We also run a turtle sanctuary project on Perhentian Besar where we are educating the tourists about turtles and how the rainforests and reefs are connected.

We are currently only at phase 1 of the project and still have alot of work to get to Phase 2 which will be establishing the marine clubs on the mainland, educating all tourists on the island of Perhentian and establishing the migration routes of the nesting turtles. Once this is secured we will look at protecting the feeding grounds of the turtles.

All of this requires alot of time and money but is the only way to safe the turtles of Malaysia - the Leatherback and olive ridley turtles are on the verge of local extinction and without focused effort and money these turtles will be lost!

You can join our project and help with our marine club program and dive to your hearts content!

type in 'great marine project' into google to find our website or join our facebook, bebo or myspace groups

You can also help us to conduct reef check surveys on Tioman island as well!

Mr T(urtle)

 

[SimonW]

Marine Conservation Cambodia

tell em simon sent ya!

 

[SimonW]

Marine Conservation Cambodia

tell em simon sent ya!

Arti-tech Design Studio

 

[Bikky]

I don't disagree with people taking a salary for this type of work. After all if you volunteer for something because you love it and want to make a difference, then anything can come along to change your priorities, work, children, family crisis, anything. However if you take this up for the good of the planet, and make your living out of it, you know if you do a bad job, you don't get paid. If you don't turn up, you don't get paid.

So in a way salaried staff, particularly for the technical jobs, or the menial stuff that people won't do for free (like cleaning the toilets), has to be paid, that way the job is done correctly. Anyone can hand out flyers as part of a project, or do a presentation to local schools, or - dare I say it - even dive and clean up the mess from underwater.

I'd love to devote my time to marine conservation, and am just starting looking into it for myself and my partner. But it will have to be occasional work as volunteers. If I could find somewhere to pay the pair of us a reasonable salary, then we would do it full time, all around our coastlines, and even inshore waters. Plan, Survey, Clean up, Presentations to Schools & Colleges. Even fund raising events in public or via private sponsorship. But alas, at this time thats no option for us, so it will mean when we get underway, it will be a few cleanup dives a year, with a few survey/observation dives. As we have a house, bills and pets to pay for.

 

[smalldog]

Some conservation groups go too far.
In Oregon we are battling to keep OUR Ocean open to the public. Out of state interests like "Our Ocean" (Funny huh?) would close the whole state and make our entire coast a Marine Reserve.
No science to back up their plan or support from the people.
We get out three whole months a year due to ocean conditions being so severe in the winters. Mother nature does a fine job of limiting access, as it is.
A helping hand is appreciated. A fist closing everything down is not.

 

[dreams4divers]

We have been running an organisation in Cambodia, We have run for the first year providing our funds solely through true eco-tourism to show that it is possible to use tourisn generated money specifically for the environment, we are now beginning to apply for funding using the principle that all funds donated go directly to the projects as wages and admin costs are fully covered using the income generated through eco-tourism.

You can see one years results with no external donors at Marine Conservation Cambodia - HOME

Its nice to prove that eco tourism can work, its a shame there is so much green washing as it makes it very difficult for people to judge truly worthy projects to help.