By DIVE Staff
The PADI AWARE Foundation has announced the latest recipients of its Mission Hub Community Grant Programme, bringing the total funds granted by the foundation over the last three years to more than US$500,000.
A total of 45 organisations and individuals have received funding since the programme’s inception, with initiatives including sea turtle conservation, coral restoration and seagrass planting. 2024’s programme will see five community initiatives receive grants for their work.
‘We are thrilled to continue our grant programme that directly supports community-based ocean conservation projects,’ said Danna Moore, PADI AWARE Foundation’s Global Director. ‘These PADI Dive Centres and NGOs are driving meaningful local action from the heart and often with little or no funding support, and these grants allow them to be true superheroes for our shared blue planet.’
PADI AWARE launched the Mission Hub Community Grant Programme in 2022 to drive PADI’s ‘Blueprint for Ocean Action’. The grants are awarded in five categories judged to be the most effective mans of ocean conservation: coral restoration, Marine Protected Area (MPA) development, the elimination of marine debris, mitigating the effects of climate change, and marine species protection.
Sea Communities (Indonesia) | Coral Restoration
Sea Communities was founded in Bali in 2012 to engage in coral restoration work with the local fishing community, employing citizen scientists and working with marine scientists from universities around the world to help restore coral habitats. The project has since expanded into coral nurseries, micro-fragmentation trials, and mass plantings by volunteer divers and local fisherfolk.
This grant will enable Sea Communities to continue the work of STARR (Scientific Trial Active Reef Rehabilitation), bringing community and travelling recreational divers together with scientists to work together on coral conservation.
‘I wish more of humanity could dive and see how wondrous it is underwater,’ says Elaine Kwee, Co-Founder, Sea Communities. ‘Science needs to be communicated to the layperson and particularly, to coastal communities that need it. STARR draws these elements together and provides divers with a meaningful opportunity to take action to protect our blue planet.’
Rwenzori Scuba Divers and Salvage Limited (Uganda) | Eliminating Marine Debris
Waste management (especially the production of plastic goods) is a problem across Uganda. With 90 per cent of the country’s rivers draining into Lake Victoria, the main source of fish, transport, and water supply for 20 million people is also the most polluted body of water in the East African region.
The PADI AWARE Foundation grant will provide critical resources for Rwenzori Scuba Divers to establish the Lake Victoria Rwenzori Scuba Divers and PADI AWARE Conservation Programme (LVRPA Initiative) to address waste management issues affecting the lake. The initiative aims to reduce poor waste management and improve sanitation issues through citizen science, community engagement and training, conservation partnerships, youth initiatives, and Dive Against Debris cleanups and surveys in Lake Victoria and its tributaries.
‘Our Dive Against Debris on Lake Victoria-River Nile Uganda is a game changer to provide data for Uganda to understand the inland contribution to save our ocean,’ says George William Mukasa, Director and Project Manager of Rwenzori Scuba Divers and Salvage Limited.
Mike’s Dauin Beach Resort (Philippines) | Marine Species Protection
Mike’s Dauin Beach Resort, a Five Star PADI Dive Resort in Dauin, Philippines, is committed to responsible diving and protecting the marine ecosystem of their local waters, including the 13km coastline and extensive seagrass beds, which provide foraging for green sea turtles.
The grant will support the local Project Pawikan – ‘sea turtle’ in the local dialect – which documents the distribution and health of the turtle population and the seagrass beds they frequent. Working with local and national authorities, Project Pawikan will be able to help decision-makers implement plans to safeguard Dauin’s sea turtle population.
‘Project Pawikan will help raise awareness, locally and beyond, of the importance of seagrass beds as green turtle foraging grounds, and the need to improve their protection,’ says Jonathan Anderson, Project Pawikan Officer.
Blue Corner Dive Penida (Indonesia) | Coral Restoration
With three dive centres located across Bali, Blue Corner Dive is expanding its conservation arm – Blue Corner Marine Research – to build upon the coral restoration work they have been doing in the area since 2017.
Blue Corner Marine Research focuses on conservation education, reef health monitoring, and ecosystem restoration and has been working on a large-scale coral restoration effort in an area of degraded reef along the northern coastline of Nusa Penida, arguably the most ecologically important reef in the Nusa Islands, acting as a refuge for the highest number of different coral species in the area.
Funds received by the PADI AWARE Mission Hub Community Grant will enable 1,000 square meters of reef restoration. The project also creates opportunities for Indonesian marine biologists to work and train others in coral restoration. Blue Corner Dive’s team of Indonesian women marine biologists were trained as PADI Divemasters this year, and will be leading the conservation efforts to restore reefs through citizen science and educate both divers and the local community.
Big Bubble Dive Resort (Thailand) | Coral Restoration
Operated by locals within the community of Koh Tao, Thailand, Big Bubble Dive Resort has been working with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Thailand since 2017. The project was expanded in 2022 with support from the PADI AWARE Foundation, and has so far planted more than 100,000 coral fragments around the island.
With a proven survival rate of 80 per cent, Big Bubble Dive Resort is embarking on a new coral restoration initiative with funds from the PADI AWARE grant, and will plant 3,000 coral fragments in Chalok Bay to commemorate Big Bubble Dive Resort’s 30th anniversary. The new reefs will serve as a resource for interested divers to learn more about coral reef conservation.
‘The oceans are too big for one single hand to protect and care for,’ says Chatsakul Kaewpanao, PADI Course Director and General Manager of Big Bubble Dive Resort. ‘However, if many small hands work together, our oceans will definitely get better.’
The PADI AWARE Mission Hub Community Grant Programme is open to all PADI dive centres and to locally based NGOs and charities working on marine conservation issues with an operating budget below US$1 million.
To learn more about how you can donate to the PADI AWARE Mission Hub Community Grant Programme or take action for ocean conservation in your community, visit www.padiaware.org. For more information on funding criteria and eligibility, click here.
