The Reef-World Foundation reports that it has certified two new Green Fins assessor trainers from the Green Fins Indonesia National Team. The two new trainers, who underwent the Green Fins ‘Train the Trainer’ (TTT) programme in December 2023 will, for the first time, be able to train and certify other assessors in-country.
With increasing demand from Indonesian dive and snorkel operators for the Green Fins programme, the new TTT programme – supported by the IUCN’s Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF) – will help expand the initiative throughout the country to help improve the use of environmental best practices among the marine tourism industry.
‘We are very happy to have secured this grant,’ said Chloe Harvey, Executive Director at The Reef-World Foundation, speaking about the BNCFF funding. ‘This opportunity will be transformational to the sustainability of the Green Fins initiative in Indonesia and beyond.
‘Alongside our trusted partners, the Coral Triangle Center and COBSEA, we look forward to continuing to promote the wise use of coral reefs and sustainable reef-based tourism practices that protect and conserve coral reefs throughout Indonesia, for the benefit of the local community, visitors and future generations.’
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Green Fins Indonesia was launched in Bali in January 2018, together with marine conservation organisation the Coral Triangle Center (CTC), and expanded to Ambon and Komodo in 2019. Following the eight-day TTT programme, Indonesia now has a team comprised of six Green Fins assessors and two assessor trainers.
‘The recent Green Fins Train the Trainer programme was a real success,’ said lead trainer and Reef-World Programmes Officer, Emma Levy. ‘We are delighted to see the new assessor trainers take on this additional level of leadership autonomy in-country, as well as welcome talented and skilled individuals to the network of Green Fins assessors.
‘We look forward to seeing the team provide the Indonesian tourism industry with the support they need to continue to reduce their negative impact on the marine environments we all rely on.’
Wira Sanjaya, Bali Portfolio Manager at Coral Triangle Center, said: ‘I really hope that the Green Fins programme can be adopted by our government for local marine tourism operators nationwide that are providing services in the local MPAs.
‘We have many MPAs in the country and with the Green Fins programme, we can increase the effectiveness of the country’s MPAs management.’
Please visit www.greenfins.net to learn more or follow the initiative on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
