OceansWatch Celebrates Successful Inaugural Year

Created by doina. Last modified on 2008-01-10 16:45:57
Topic: Environment

OceansWatch has had a successful inaugural year with a number of projects planned for 2008. As more and more people are concerned about marine environments and for the coastal communities who rely on them for their livelihoods, OceansWatch is able to provide a platform, for those wishing to help and those needing help, in the form of projects that offer humanitarian aid and marine conservation.

Membership officially started at the beginning of December 2007 and the response has been impressive, with a wide variety of skills and experience including: medical doctors, dentists, engineers, dive instructors, underwater photographers, International development specialists, nurses, midwives, researchers, academics, tourism operators, outdoor educators, scientists etc! Already about 12 yachts are preparing to assist with projects in the Pacific in 2008.

In 2008 OceansWatch will be undertaking projects in Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and will be researching in the Philippines. OceansWatch will be helping the community on Karkar Island Papua New Guinea by providing resources for the school, undertaking reef surveys and marine education and investigating small business opportunities such as bio-diesel and ecotourism. In Tonga OceansWatch will focus on monitoring reef health through the ReefCheck system. In Vanuatu the work will focus on reef health monitoring at Malekula Island, including the Maskelynes Island group and Banam Bay.

The Oceanswatch team is constantly on the lookout for where resources can best help the marine environment and coastal communities and liaises with NGO’s, cruising yachtsmen, divers as well as investigating opportunities through personal visits. If an Oceanswatch member observes marine environmental degradation or a humanitarian need then they can work with Oceanswatch to address the situation. For approved projects Oceanswatch will act as facilitators and help provide resources to address areas of need.

There will also be a variety of training opportunities open to members beginning with Reef Check training in Tonga in April. Members will be educated in the methodology of surveying coral reef health and will then be able to join in with planned surveys (Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea) or establish their own. Other plans include training to assist in OceansWatch humanitarian projects.

To join OceansWatch go to http://www.oceanswatch.org/membership.htm

To contact OceansWatch email chris@oceanswatch.org

Oceanswatch, PO Box 1803, Whangarei, 0140, New Zealand

http://www.oceanswatch.org