The 2022 PADI AWARE Grantees are creating a positive impact in their local environments and bringing momentum towards PADI AWARE’s mission for ocean conservation! Huge positive strides for ocean conservation have taken place in 2022 thanks to the recipients of the PADI AWARE Community Grant Program. Could you be one of them in 2023?
24% of PADI AWARE’s donations this year were given to the Community Grant Program. The aim of which is to help fund local and global initiatives for ocean conservation. Today, we celebrate the critical work of the 2022 AWARE Grantees across each of the goals in PADI and PADI AWARE Foundation’s blueprint to save the ocean.
AWARE Grantees for Marine Protected Areas
Beqa Adventure Divers, Fiji
Natasha Marosi, Director of Conservation at Beqa Adventure Divers, and her team of adventure divers have been working passionately hard to rehabilitate the local Shark Reef Marine Reserve! Marine protected areas, like the Shark Reef Marine Reserve, are crucial in providing recovery areas for overfished or environmentally-threatened species. Additionally, these areas provide feeding grounds for numerous species like sharks, groupers, and jacks (species that we, as divers, are thrilled to encounter underwater).
Their team are focusing on the damage caused by pandemic poaching, through biodiversity assessments and fish counts in the area. Eventually, a future ambition of this project is that they will encounter “rapid rebound rates for many depleted fish species” as explained by Natasha Marosi. This would indicate justified hope of biodiversity in the area being restored in the future.
Takata Dive & Research Centre, Mexico
Takata Dive & Research Centre are using the PADI AWARE Foundation’s Community Grant in action “to restore the coral reef in Mahahual”. Firstly, the dive shop is growing corals to then transplant back onto the reef. Plus, they have backed up their plans with science for a sustainable future in the marine area! The grant has allowed the team to “carry out genetic analysis to ensure genetic diversity on [the] restored reef“.
The purpose of ensuring genetic diversity is to help sustain species that have greater chances of survival against environmental threats. These could include higher tolerance against warmer ocean temperatures, higher pollution levels, and increased ocean acidification. Lastly, the success of this initiative is being measured by the percentage of coral transplant survival on the Mahahual reef.
AWARE Grantees for Climate Change
Kosamare, Greece
The Posidonia Restoration project by Kosamare has a 3-phase approach to restore seagrass and install permanent eco-moorings in Kefalonia, Greece! Seagrass meadows provide essential foraging grounds for marine species. However, seagrass also assists our planet in controlling and limiting climate change due to its ability to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
With the PADI AWARE Grant, Kosamare have been able to carry out surveys of the seagrass meadows. Additionally, they have “engage[d] with students from Greece and all over Europe through [their] scientific diving program“. In doing so, Kosamare aim to engage the local community and demonstrate “the ability of small organizations and communities to mobilize for change in the face of the climate crisis“.
AWARE Grantees for Coral Reef Conservation
Coral Catch by Gili Shark Conservation, Indonesia
The Coral Catch Project by Gili Shark Conservation‘s impressive goal is to empower 100 Indonesia women through scholarships in coral restoration. Three dive sites are being protected and restored, alongside ensuring 18 dive sites in the Gili Matra Marine Park become part of the PADI AWARE Adopt The Blue Program.
Additionally, the team plan to ensure 400 hex domes for coral restoration will be installed onto the reef in future years. In providing the scholarships, Gili Shark Conservation hope to “create a community of women that are united in advocating for healthy oceans and that are working together to restore the reefs in Indonesia“.
Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center, Honduras
WSORC have expanded their work to tackle to the sinister Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). This fast-acting disease is threatening almost 30 species of coral in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, scientists are currently still unsure exactly how to cure the affected corals.
However, hope is rising as the 2022 PADI AWARE Grant has made it possible for WSORC to “monitor and treat vital coral colonies”. The goal is “to help maintain species and genetic diversity” and “gather data on the relatively new disease“. Rebecca Engler and her team are also educating interns with knowledge to of the “treatment and monitoring processes”. Rebecca hopes they will implement their protocols throughout the Caribbean and slow the spread of this deadly disease.
AWARE Grantees for Marine Debris
Seattle Dive Tours, USA
Marine Debris is one of the largest problems our oceans are facing, that can be seriously improved by local communities and individuals. Seattle Dive Tours are acting on this by training Dive Against Debris instructors and divers as one of the 2022 AWARE Grantees. Their efforts are cleaning up the waters of the Des Moins Marina and Seacrest Pier in Seattle.
Seattle Dive Tours have been offering Dive Against Debris training “frequently and at a reduced price“, encouraging people to get involved! As a result, they are seeing “continued growth of the conservation or stewardship mindset” shared Scott Flaherty. Divers are being encouraged to participate in Dives Against Debris, collecting and recording trash removed from the ocean in the local area.
Florida Keys Dive Center, USA
Florida Keys Dive Center (FLAKEYS), and the No Trash Left Behind Project have been striving to decrease marine debris by rallying the local community! The PADI AWARE Grant is enabling FLAKEYS to “train more instructors to become Dive Against Debris specialty instructor[s]“. Additionally, more local divers have been able to partake in clean up dives thanks to the grant making positive impacts to the marine world of Florida Keys!
FLAKEYS conservation coordinator Seanna Knight explains that “tackling the marine debris issue is no small task“. However, the team have broken their goals down into 3 areas of success. Firstly, bringing up debris on dives and econdlt, not bringing up debris on dives! Meaning there’s evidence of a lasting impact of their clean-up efforts in the area. And lastly, engaging the local community more closely.
AWARE Grantees for Vulnerable Species
The Seahorse Trust, Malta
Project Malta by The Seahorse Trust was one of the 2022 AWARE Grantees focusing on Vulnerable Species. As a result, they “have been able to train key volunteers on seahorse survey techniques and obtain a local government permit”. Divers in the area have been encouraged to properly report seahorse sightings, allowing the team to produce records. Project Malta is making a huge impact on ensuring seahorses in the local area are treated with respect by those in the water!
In addition, the team have been able to “educate divers on how to encounter seahorses responsibly and what the local laws are“. Speaking of future aspirations for the project, the team would “love to have protected marine sites where seahorse populations can recover and thrive”.
Iguana Divers, Costa Rica
Anna Cindy Camara Bauserman and her team at Iguana Divers have used the 2022 grant to help fund their Mantas de Costa Rica project. They have been able to purchase and deploy receivers and tags for endangered oceanic manta ray species in Costa Rica. Anna explained the data will give insight into “their spatial and temporal distribution which will help to implement marine policies and protect manta rays”.
To begin, they created a map of the “abundance and movement of mantas” with the data from 4 of the new acoustic receivers. Longterm, they hope to share the results with the government and local authorities. The aim of this will be to weigh in on “decisions regarding the conservation of endangered manta rays” and more.
It Doesn’t Stop Here!
There’s more to see with the 2022 Grantees and their fantastic movements this year to protect the ocean. But, as we know, there is always more work to be done! If you’re passionate about helping out, but don’t know where to start, you can fundraise with your diving community to help Fund The Future here.
Apply for the Next Round of Funding
If you’re part of a dive center or marine conservation project with a passion to take things further, you can apply for the next round of funding. Stay tuned for more details on 2023 funding cycles.
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