New Seacology Projects: Sri Lanka, Dominica and Beyond
The following projects were passed by Seacology's executive committee at their July 2000 meeting:
DOMINICA - Restore water quality to a village's rivers, beaches and bay. Tan-Tan is a small village on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Because of inadequate plumbing, villagers are using the rivers to the north and south as toilets causing detrimental impacts on the environmental quality of the rivers, beaches and adjacent ocean. To alleviate this problem the village began constructing a "public convenience" consisting of four separate bathrooms and showers. The construction is 65 percent complete but the village needed funding to purchase plumbing fixtures. Seacology's support will enable the villagers of Tan-Tan to complete construction of this public convenience.
FIJI - Assist in the establishment of the Nubura Marine Conservation Area. Waisomo Village is located on Ono Island 40 miles south of Viti Levu, Fiji's main island. With the leadership of village Chief Iokimi Naqeluviki, the Waisomo villagers have begun the process of establishing a no-take marine protected area. Fishing is restricted in this area for a minimum of five years to allow, in the words of Chief Naqeluviki, "fish, clam and so on to regenerate for the benefit of our future generations." In exchange for this remarkable sacrifice Seacology is providing funding to enable Waisomo villagers to build a new community center and to purchase a boat to patrol the marine conservation area. Financial support for this project is generously provided by the Moore Family Foundation.
KOSRAE - Protect a fragile mangrove ecosystem and create an alternative energy supply for local community. Kosrae is one of the least developed island states of the Federated States of Micronesia. Seacology Prize recipient Madison Nena played a pivotal role in the protection of one of Kosrae's largest mangrove forests through the establishment of the Utwa-Walung Marine Park. One of the most striking elements of the park is a large community center, which was constructed in traditional style under NenaÕs direction. The community center will not only serve as the park headquarters but will also be a major environmental and cultural education center. Providing electricity to the center via power lines would be prohibitively expensive and would require the destruction of mangroves, as well as potentially lead the way to further development of this pristine site. As an alternative, Seacology is providing funding to purchase and install Kosrae's first solar energy system for the center. This project will serve as a model use of sustainable energy for the island of Kosrae.*
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Install mooring buoys to protect marine biodiversity. Papua New Guinea (PNG) harbors some of the world's greatest marine biodiversity. A single bay in PNG has more coral species than the entire Caribbean. The health of PNG's coral ecosystems is threatened by damage from boat anchors and chains. To mitigate this damage the local nonprofit organization Mahonia Na Dari ("guardians of the sea" in a local dialect) and the PNG Dive Association have begun to install mooring buoys in fragile reef areas throughout PNG. Seacology's grant will cover the cost of new equipment, which will enable 200 mooring buoys to be installed. In order to insure the long term protection of PNG's marine biodiversity, Mahonia Na Dari plans to supplement the buoy installation project with a marine education program for indigenous Papua New Guineans. Seacology's funds will assist with the production and distribution of educational materials to schools in PNG. Financial support for this project is generously provided by the Homeland Foundation.
POHNPEI - Assist in the establishment of the first community-led marine reserve in the Federated States of Micronesia. Pohnpei, one of the four Federated States of Micronesia, has an extensive lagoon which is home to over 900 species of fish and 400 species of coral. The Conservation Society of Pohnpei (CSP) is working closely with traditional leaders of Lenger Island, a highly visible site off of the Pohnpei mainland, to establish a community-led marine reserve. Seacology's grant will enable the Lenger Island community to purchase a boat to transport equipment and assist with the surveying and monitoring of the marine reserve. It is anticipated that the Lenger Island reserve will serve as a model and lead to the establishment of many more community-led marine reserves throughout the Federated States of Micronesia.*
SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS - Promote a public education campaign for the protection of coral reefs. Jean Michel Cousteau has made a short documentary about the value and fragility of coral reefs and the need to protect them. This video is being translated into six languages. Seacology is underwriting the distribution of this video so that it can be seen in villages throughout Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomons and Tuvalu.
SRI LANKA - Establish the Kiralakele mangrove conservation program. Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, is a 25,000 square mile island in the Indian Ocean. Its 30,000 acres of mangrove forests contain over half of the worldÕs mangrove species. Mangroves, which provide natural protection to coastline and act as important fish nurseries, are among the planet's most endangered ecosystems. In response to threats to Sri Lanka's mangroves, the Small Fishers Federation of Lanka (SFFL) has begun a mangrove conservation program. Seacology support will enable SFFL to establish the Kiralakele mangrove conservation program in southern Sri Lanka. This program combines rehabilitation of degraded mangrove areas with the establishment of a mangrove arboretum as an eco-tourism project, and the construction of the south coast's first mangrove resource center.
WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON (USA) - Construct a greenhouse to preserve threatened native prairie plant species. Whidbey Island is located in Puget Sound between Seattle and the San Juan Islands. Because Whidbey Island is within commuting distance of Seattle it faces serious pressures from development. The island is home to one of the best remaining examples of a glacial outwash prairie in the United States. These prairies have been identified as one of the ten most endangered natural communities in the U.S. Seacology's support will enable the Whidbey Environmental Action Network to complete construction of a greenhouse to be used for the study and practice of restoration ecology.
*Support of asterisked projects generously provided by the Nu Skin Enterprises Force for Good Foundation.
