Marine Life & Conservation
Reef-World launches new Green Fins resources
The Reef-World Foundation – the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – has launched new guidelines to help dive and snorkel operators who are continuing to keep an environmental strategy high on their agenda despite the many changes taking place for travel businesses as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
The charity has also waived its usual £20 fee for its dive and snorkel centre Operational Handbook (encouraging operators to instead ‘pay what you can’) and is reminding dive professionals they can still take the free Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course to improve their environmental knowledge and skills.
Chloe Harvey, Reef-World’s Director, said: “We appreciate that this is an incredibly tough time for the diving and snorkelling industry. The coronavirus pandemic has many negative consequences for many people but there are silver linings including the potential to ‘redefine’ the tourism industry and use this downtime to put better environmental policies in place; especially since more and more tourists are demanding sustainable practices from their providers.
“As a collaborative network we need to work together to weather this storm as best we can. That’s why Reef-World has developed new resources – and waived the usual fee for its popular Operational Handbook – to help the industry keep an environmental strategy high on their agenda, even during this difficult time. While we appreciate this is a stressful time for the travel industry, putting better environmental measures in place now will help businesses come out stronger – and with a more sustainable business – when travel restrictions are lifted.
“While we are confident that the scuba diving industry will bounce back, there is likely to be a ‘new normal’ and level of expectation in sanitisation not previously witnessed by the sector. For this reason, we have developed new guidelines to help dive and snorkel operators manage and dispose of chemical cleaning agents in an environmentally friendly way. These new guidelines are available for free to Green Fins members and non-members alike.
“We realise it might not be possible for everyone but we’d like to thank everyone who is continuing to find ways of reducing their impact on the coral reefs and related ecosystems: together, we can make both the environment and our tourism businesses more resilient.”
New Guidelines on Environmental Best Practice for Chemical Cleaning Agents
The use of chemical cleaning agents is widely regarded as the safest option when disinfecting equipment, surfaces and laundry in today’s climate. However, many cleaning and cosmetic products contain substances which are hazardous to the marine environment. As such, Reef-World has launched the Green Fins Guidelines for Environmental Best Practice for Chemical Cleaning Agents to help dive and snorkel operators deal with chemical cleaning agents in an environmentally friendly way. These recommendations are a consolidation of known best practice around the management and disposal of hazardous waste and chemicals for minimal environmental impact.
The Green Fins guidance – which should be used in addition to, not instead of, health and safety recommendations from DAN and the WHO on preventing viral spread – explains how to deal with any hazardous waste that may pose a significant threat to the marine environment.
The guidelines are available free of charge for Green Fins members and non-members alike. They can be downloaded here.
The Green Fins Operational Handbook is now free of charge
The Green Fins Operational Handbook is a one-stop-shop of information to help dive and snorkel operators who are currently reviewing their sustainability policies. While normally priced at £20, Reef-World is waiving this fee during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the dive industry can access its environmental support and tools during this difficult time. To help the charity continue its ongoing work to protect coral reefs, operators who access the handbook are asked to contribute what they can.
Access the Green Fins Operational Handbook here.
Take the Dive Guide e-Course
Dive professionals who want to continue their learning from home can also take the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course for free (or $25 if you would like a certificate). This online course helps dive professionals who want to positively influence their guests’ behaviour and protect coral reefs on every dive. It helps build on guides’ existing scuba diving knowledge by providing the skills and confidence to conduct more environmentally friendly diving trips and manage divers to prevent them causing damage.
Dive professionals can take the free Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course here.
Upcoming assessments
Reef-World is also keen to reassure all Green Fins members who are not able to go through their annual assessment process that they will remain members of the Green Fins programme. Those who are not able to conduct their reassessment within the 18-month timeframe that would maintain their active membership status will be shown as inactive on the website. The ‘inactive’ status shows they have not had an assessment within the last 18 months; however, they remain Green Fins members, as has always been the case, and Reef-World is actively communicating to the public that the ‘inactive’ status is only with regards to their Green Fins status, not the status of the business. The Green Fins teams will be doing all they can to reassess members in their respective countries as soon as it is possible and safe to do so.
Review your feedback points from your latest assessment
The Reef-World Foundation would also like to remind all Green Fins members of the three feedback points they would have received by email following their latest assessment. The charity is asking operators to take this time to review and work on your feedback points. If you need any further guidance – or would like some additional points to work on – please contact your Green Fins Assessor directly.
Watch the Green Fins How-To-Videos
These videos help teach dive and snorkel operators how to improve environmental practices, such as implementing a responsible trash management policy, giving a great environmental pre-dive briefing, managing your guests (including underwater photographers) and more.
To watch the How-To videos, visit the Green Fins YouTube channel.
For more information, please visit www.reef-world.org or www.greenfins.net.
Dive and snorkel operators interested in signing up to Green Fins can find the membership application form here.
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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