Marine Life & Conservation
PADI AWARE announces first recipients of 2022 Mission Hub Community Grant Programme
PADI AWARE Foundation™ has announced the first recipients of its 2022 Mission Hub Community Grant Programme and began accepting the next round of applications to protect our blue planet.
From giant kelp rehabilitation to the protection of vulnerable sea turtle species, sixteen community initiatives around the planet were selected, fueling both local and global ocean change. Additionally, PADI AWARE™ has dedicated nearly one-quarter of its public funds to fund additional recipients this year with a goal to substantially increase funding in the next two to five years.
“We are thrilled to launch this new fund that directly supports community-based ocean conservation projects. There are so many PADI Dive Centres and NGOs driving meaningful local action, often with little or no funding support,” says Danna Moore, PADI AWARE Foundation’s Global Director. “To help ensure these efforts succeed, PADI AWARE is committing 24% of our donations this year to the Community Grant Programme, with a goal of reaching $1million USD in funding by 2024.”
PADI AWARE Community Grants are awarded to ocean protection initiatives and projects in direct support of PADI’s Blueprint for Ocean Action and the United Nations Decade of Science for Sustainable Development, in five distinct categories: coral restoration, developing Marine Protected Areas, eliminating marine debris, reducing the effects of climate change, and protecting species threatened with extinction like sharks and turtles.
PADI joins PADI AWARE in celebrating the following initiatives, welcoming them into the 2022 Mission Hub Community Grant Programme:
Category: Coral Restoration (6 Funded Projects)
Coral Catch / Gili Shark Conservation: To provide 20 scholarships to local Indonesian women to receive training and education in conservation and coral restoration, enabling them to grow and plant corals, and restoring the reef in the Gili Matra Reserve.
Reef Renewal Foundation: To expand local community involvement in Curacao to increase coral restoration initiatives by providing supplies, tools and training for two dive shops (Scubacao and Goby Divers) to run successful, long-term coral restoration projects.
Dodo Reef Restoration / Dodo Divers LTD: To support the restoration of 10,000 sqm of degraded reef by transplanting cultivated coral colonies over a 4 year period.
Coral Reef Restoration in Natewa Bay / Ocean Ventures Fiji: To install coral nurseries in two different reef structures and communities in Natewa Bay.
Coral Restoration / Big Bubble Dive Resort: To replant native coral species through citizen science in Chalok Bay, Koh Tao.
Nusa Islands Restoration Project / Blue Corner Dive: To restore coral in a degraded reef flat and slope to stabilise rubble substrate and stimulate coral recovery along the northern coastline of Penida Island.
Category: Vulnerable Species Protection (3 Funded Projects)
Bubbles Turtles & Reef Conservation Project / Bubbles Dive Resort: To protect a local turtle nesting site in Perhentian Besar, Terengganu, Malaysia by providing community training and beach patrols, while changing behaviors through education and presentations to local schools and groups to reduce turtle egg consumption.
Aqualife Conservancy: To save the threatened shark-like ray species in Ghana through assessments that include landing surveys, field studies and interviews to gather data that will drive the design of short and medium-term conservation strategies including the development of a locally-managed coastal protected area to safeguard these rays and their critical ecosystem.
The Seahorse Trust: To discover, identify and monitor two marine seahorse species found in Maltese waters: Spiny Seahorse and Short Snouted Seahorse, providing the baseline data needed to protect them by analyzing habitat, pollution and other disturbances versus population density.
Category: Climate Change (2 Funded Projects)
Giant Kelp Forest Restoration / Aquarius Dive Shop: to protect California’s threatened kelp forests by testing rehabilitation and protection methods – including the removal of invasive species – as well as replanting and growing new kelp.
Posidonia Restoration / Kosamare: Year one of a three-year phased project to scientifically monitor and report on the Posidonia habitat, install permanent moorings and restore the marine habitat.
Category: Marine Protected Areas (2 Funded Projects)
SRMR Rehabilitation / Beqa Adventure Divers: To assess the degradation of Shark Reef Marine Reserve through biodiversity assessments and fish counts and bolster ecosystem health through both coral restoration and restoration of the giant clam population.
Save the Red Coral Reefs / 7 Perle A.S.D.: To establish a biological monitoring programme to protect a delicate habitat that includes seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean through seabed surveys at multiple depths, determining the extent a habitat can be protected from intensive fishing pressure.
Category: Marine Debris (3 Funded Projects)
No Trash Left Behind/ Florida Keys Dive Center: To unite the community around diving with a purpose and decrease marine debris found at local dive sites.
Seattle Dive Tours: To successfully remove the growing amount of debris from the Des Moines Marina.
Project by AquaMarine Diving Bali: To further the work of the Blue Project which provides educational programmes for local schools, coral restoration coverages, turtle and mangrove conservation, and Dive Against Debris.
“Everyone, everywhere can make a positive difference and together, create a healthy ocean for all. Whoever you are, from individuals to communities, business to government, the time to change is now,” says Rose Huizenga – co-founder of Gili Shark Conservation and founder of Coral Catch. “Thanks to the PADI AWARE Mission Hub Community Grant Programme, we are one step closer to achieving our goal of offering 20 local women a coral restoration scholarship and doing just that.”
Throughout the coming year, PADI AWARE will be sharing success stories from the field, providing the world with a much-needed dose of ocean hope, as well as real examples of how the efforts of a few can result in global, positive ocean change.
The grant programme is open to all PADI Dive Centres around the world and to locally based NGOs and charities working on marine conservation issues with an operating budget below US$1 million.
PADI AWARE is currently accepting new proposals for funding, with a deadline of Earth Day, April 22, 2022. To learn more and apply, visit www.padi.com/aware/grant-funding-criteria.
Header Image: Neil Garrick-Maidment, The Seahorse Trust
Marine Life & Conservation
Shark Trust launches Oceanic 31 Shark Art Auction
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
Marine Life & Conservation
Meet Steve Backshall in the Bite-Back Prize Draw
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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