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Marine Life & Conservation

Beyond Tourism Challenge win to drive global marine conservation impact

Published

4 years ago

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IDB support to enable Green Fins Global Hub development and launch of Green Fins Costa Rica

The Reef-World Foundation – the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – is thrilled to announce its Green Fins Global Hub proposal has been selected for project design under IDB Lab’s Beyond Tourism Challenge. This funding enables Reef-World to begin full development of the much-anticipated Green Fins Global Hub.

The Green Fins Global Hub is a first-of-its-kind online platform which will empower marine tourism businesses to measurably improve their sustainability efforts. The Hub will house an online support system to raise operator awareness of the potential threats their business practices pose to the environment and offer practical, proven solutions to address these. In this way, the digital global solution will encourage compliance with internationally recognised environmental standards, safeguard biodiversity and stimulate green tourism; ultimately, resulting in better protection of fragile coral reefs globally.

The Beyond Tourism project support enables Reef-World to begin the development of the Hub, which will initially be piloted by marine tourism operators in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. As an already established Green Fins country, the Dominican Republic team will share successes and learnings with Costa Rica, which will launch Green Fins as a result of this project support. By digitising the support it provides to reef-dependent businesses through the Hub, Reef-World will overcome traditional capacity and time constraints, reach previously inaccessible operators and upscale the overall conservation impact of its Green Fins initiative.

Chloe Harvey, Director of The Reef-World Foundation, said: “The Green Fins Global Hub has been generating excitement among dive centres around the world for some time so we’re delighted that IDB Lab has recognised the huge conservation impact it will have and selected it for project design. By the end of the two-year project, we expect to have fully autonomous Green Fins assessor teams in both Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic as well as a global digital platform with the potential to reach 30,000 marine tourism operators across 100 countries and upskill around 48,000 staff. Empowering the industry to collaborate for improved sustainability is essential in influencing the consumer choices of the 171 million travellers visiting reef hotspots annually and will have a significant conservation impact. We can’t wait to get started!”

This project creates a tipping point for sustainable reef tourism globally by helping the industry identify pressing environmental threats and providing proven solutions. By improving sustainability across the marine tourism industry, the Hub will protect coral reefs and related ecosystems from local stressors. Minimising local threats enables these vital ecosystems to become more resilient to global stressors, such as those associated with climate change. It also protects the local communities who rely on these precious natural resources for food stability, coastal protection, livelihoods and tourism returns.

The Beyond Tourism Challenge identified innovations in two categories: development of the tourism workforce for post-COVID recovery; and environmental sustainability. The Challenge attracted 214 applications from public and private sector candidates in 28 countries around the world with proposals ranging from waste management and safety protocols to preservation of natural capital and eco-tourism. Evaluation was conducted by IDB Group specialists – with technical expertise provided by the UNWTO – and criteria included the degree of innovation, the degree of social and environmental impact, its scalability potential, financial sustainability and viability of execution.

Reef-World’s proposal was one of eight selected from Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Haiti, Guyana, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. These selected applicants will become part of IDB Group’s network of global innovators working in the region to reinvent the tourism industry and support its recovery efforts. The selected proposals were:

  • Barbados – “Better Batteries” an energy-as-a-service model to accelerate the hotel industry´s access to renewable energy. Applicant: Aceleron
  • Belize – “Belizing Tourism Innovation Lab” a virtual marketplace to enhance workforce development. Applicant: Lets Go Belizing Ltd.
  • Costa Rica – “INTO Experiential Camps & Lodges” a platform to bring together social ecotourism with land and marine conservation. Applicant: INTO Hospitality S.A.
  • Dominican Republic – “Green Fins Hub – Digital scaling for sustainable marine tourism”. Applicants: The Reef-World Foundation and Reef Check Dominican Republic.
  • Guyana – “Safe Lodges Equal Safe Guests”, a mobile tracing and tracking system and upskilling of tourism operators to allow for a safe reopening of ecotourism in Guyana’s Northern Rupununi region. Applicants: DAI Global LLC, Guyana Tourism Authority and Wilderness Explorers
  • Haiti – “Caribbean Tourism Career Accelerator” a virtual programme to fast-track tourism workforce career development. Applicants: Global Startup Foundation and Cocread
  • Panama – “Digital Transformation of Indigenous-Led Ecotourism and Conservation” a model to foster a safe and sustainable return to eco-tourism operations by local communities. Applicants: Keteka, Global Brigades and Native Future
  • Trinidad and Tobago – “Creating a community-driven, sustainable cluster and brand to transform ecotourism in Nariva Swamp” using citizen science to develop Nariva as an eco-tourism attraction. Applicant: Caribbean Natural Resources Institute

The Beyond Tourism Innovation Challenge was run by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, and in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). 

For more information, please visit www.greenfins.net  

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Marine Life & Conservation

Shark Trust launches Oceanic 31 Shark Art Auction

Published

3 weeks ago

on

November 1, 2024

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After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.

People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:

https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction

It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.

The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.

One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.

Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:

https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24

Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.

Find out more here:

https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31

 Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”

Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction

Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden

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Marine Life & Conservation

Meet Steve Backshall in the Bite-Back Prize Draw

Published

1 month ago

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October 21, 2024

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steve backshall

Until 28 November, prizes worth a massive £10,000 – including experiences, products and tuition – feature in a line-up of items that can be won for £5 in an online prize draw to celebrate Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation’s 20th anniversary and help generate crucial funds for the future.

Top of the list of prizes is the chance to spend time with adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall, a workout session with Nat Geo star Aldo Kane, a kayaking trip alongside white-water expert and diver Sal Montgomery and a Zoom call with ‘shark whisperer’ Cristina Zenato.

On top of that, some of the most admired companies in the diving and scuba industry have been quick to support the charity with fabulous prizes that make the £5 ticket price worth more than just a flutter.

Master Liveaboards, BSAC, Midlands Diving Chamber, Go Freediving and Blue Shark Snorkel have all generously donated experience prizes, while celebrated photographer Alex Mustard has donated a print and artists Scott Gleed and Olivier Leger have donated a sculpture and illustration to help boost the fundraising pot.

Fourth Element has donated Ocean Positive gear and LA watch company Nodus has gifted the charity a stunning dive watch. For land lovers, the charity has included a five star London hotel stay at Bankside Hotel plus a family visit to Longleat Safari Park in the roster of prizes.

Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with support from companies and individuals that we truly admire and who have supported us on our 20 year journey and we’re truly grateful to them all. While we feel incredibly proud of our achievements over the past two decades – and we are super excited about the next chapter – this prize draw isn’t a vanity project. It represents a real lifeline to our work and important advancements in the global protection of sharks. So we hope divers, dive clubs and even bargain hunters grab some tickets to make this a massive success.”

The charity hopes that the prize draw will generate crucial funds to launch a brand new, ground-breaking, campaign to enrol the public and increase support for the protection of sharks around the world.

To enter the competition visit www.bite-back.com/prizedraw. The prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2024.

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