ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, Havelock Island - January 2006
Environmental education center and plastic waste collection containers in support of a 2,175-acre no-take marine reserve for a minimum duration of 10 years
The Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, situated 746 miles from the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal, is comprised of over 350 tropical islands, islets and rocky outcrops of outstanding beauty and diversity. Havelock Island’s waters are home to green, leatherback and olive ridley turtles; coral reefs and sea grass beds; and the occasional dugong. In exchange for the establishment of a 2,175-acre marine reserve and a ban on turtle egg collecting, Seacology will fund the construction of an environmental education center, which will be managed and staffed by employees of the local Barefoot at Havelock Resort (formerly Jungle Resort). Seacology is also providing recycling containers for the collection of waste plastic. *
UPDATE January 2007 - Acquisition of the first choice of the land for the environmental center location was completed in September 2006. Members of the Seacology expedition to the Andamans attended a ground-breaking/beach clean-up ceremony during their site visit in late October with local school children in attendance.
UPDATE October 2007 - As of May 2007 construction was not progressing and concerns were raised. A report from August indicates that a boat is currently used to patrol the conservation area from November through May when poachers have access to the area, that staff has weekly schedules for beach clean-ups of the debris carried in by monsoon weather, and that environmental education with local schools started last spring, with classes being held at the resort café until the center is completed. Construction of the center started in late July with the foundation and wall beams completed in August. Materials for the rest of construction were purchased and transported in late August.
UPDATE November 2007 - Materials arrived in beginning of November and the building is scheduled to be completed in late 2007 or early 2008. As of late October recycling containers were purchased and scheduled to be delivered in mid November.
*Support for asterisked projects is provided fully or in part by the
Nu
Skin Enterprises Force for Good Foundation
