Children have a powerful influence on the emotions of adults and this project is about harnessing that power to change the future of our planet. In today’s conservation arena, the battle for nature is fought between adults as they struggle to find the balance between survival, consumerism, and sustainability. This project is dedicated to the empowerment of our youth and their ability to activate the good in human beings towards a critical cause––rescuing planet Earth before we reach the point of no return.
The Reef Rescue School is a pilot project developed specifically for threatened ecosystems and the local children that inhabit these regions. In this program, we teach indigenous and local youth to become the rescuers of nature by synchronizing solutions in five key areas, which form the pillars of our program: culture, economics, conservation, storytelling, and politics. Through an outdoor and field focused education, students learn the critical role these pillars play in sustainability and protecting their environment. As part of the program, students will work directly within National Parks and participate in real projects that involve issues such as wildlife rescue, human/wildlife conflict, coral reef restoration, forest regeneration, sustainable farming, water quality, and composting. They will learn the technical skills necessary to perform these tasks such as scuba diving, drone piloting, film and photography, journalism, public speaking, project planning and implementation. Upon completion of our certificate program, students will have the opportunity for higher education, internships, and job placement in environmental and conservation related fields through our partner organizations and universities.
And finally, to achieve the ultimate purpose of this project, we will strategically place youth at the front and center of major conservation initiatives. They will advocate for their own conservation projects and appeal to the gentler and more compassionate nature of human beings to advance the welfare of people, animals, and the environment over the pursuit of profits and unsustainable practices.
Conservation initiatives are being met with constant resistance worldwide, especially in areas that have natural resources for exploitation and/or are ideal locations for major hotel and real estate development, especially for tourism. The amount of resources and effort expended to protect these threatened ecosystems is being offset by business and government priorities. The challenge in conservation is to protect or to regenerate natural ecosystems at a faster rate than their exploitation. Our primary project area, the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park which is part of the Mesoamerican Reef, lies alongside the Mayan Riviera, which is one of the fastest growing areas for tourism and development in the region. The mass tourism model that has been adopted sees tourists flock to enjoy the natural resources, white sandy beaches and turquoise blue seas. Such a model brings huge profits to developers and tourism operators, however, enjoying the natural resources comes at a high price, because the exploitation of this ecosystem is unsustainable and threatens its very existence.
The development of hotels and the urban communities needed to support them in addition to government graft are the biggest threats, particularly in terms of loss of natural resources and contamination of the only freshwater source for the whole peninsula. In addition, the serious lack of adequate funding for National Park Rangers has crippled law enforcement and restoration efforts. In the past few years, there have been restoration brigades launched in the local community in addition to coral reef reproduction projects. However, the lack of effective planning, funding, and human resources, in addition to unsustainable practices, are seriously threatening the existence of the ecosystems that draw tourism to the area.
What our team has learned over the past four years is that these efforts alone are not sufficient to save the reef–this is not for lack of effort, but a lack of effective strategy, planning, and implementation. Our project team is deeply integrated into the conservation, education, and restoration efforts in this community and have spent significant time working directly with these stakeholder groups to understand the inner workings of their projects and the challenges they faced.
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