Help Us Get Back To Work With Conservation
Donation protected
"Back To Work With Conservation" gives local people work, saves marine life and cleans up ocean trash.
Individuals can donate any amount to contribute to a conservation project and companies can sponsor an entire project as part of their CSR commitment. You can even virtually join us on the conservation day itself !
We are a PADI 5 Star IDC Career Development Centre & Travel Company based in Sabah, Borneo. Covid-19 has bought the dive & travel industry to its knees with many companies unable to pay their team.
Our crisis management plan meant we had to reduce our employees by 25% and now we are desperately trying to bring the rest back to work, however the big question is, what can they do with borders closed and therefore no clients?
Our second concern is for the environment. Since 2004 we have been using our company profits and resources to fight the ever growing problem of ocean trash through beach cleanups and underwater fishnet removals. To date we have educated over 3,000 people to become torchbearers in reducing plastic waste, we have collected more than 3 tons of ocean trash, removed more than 400 abandoned fishing nets snagged on coral reefs and saved thousands of marine life that would have otherwise perished.
Since C-19 hit we are only out on our dive boats one or two days per week and our cash reserves are limited to keeping the company afloat.
So we’ve come up with an initiative to help solve both problems in the short term until borders open and our clients can return. We are asking for help funding our “Back To Work With Conservation” project.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS PROJECT?
Twenty five employees and their families, plus their extended families. Most of our employees are the main income earner in their family and in Sabah Borneo many generations of families live in the same house hold. There has been some government support but people are already struggling. If we can raise money for these conservation projects our company can bring the team back to work under full salaried employment for the conservation days.
Marine life such as turtles, sharks, coral reef fish and crustaceans will benefit. A rogue fishing net, colloquially termed ‘ghost nets’ because it continually fishes even after being discarded, can be up to 100m long and 30m wide. Whilst they are left on the reef un-suspecting marine life get snagged in them, they struggle for their freedom and often larger fish will feel the vibrations of an injured creature and become snagged themselves and the devastation continues. We find everything from crabs, clown fish, snappers, turtles and sharks entangled in the net, often still alive and waiting to be saved.
If we are not out scuba diving along the reef we do not see them, we need be to out a few times a week to discover them early enough to save the majority of marine life entangled. Eventually if the ghost net is not removed it will smother the living coral and the coral will die.
Beaches, mangroves & coral reefs will benefit: Beach clean ups are a routine job for our island teams. Sadly ocean trash is an increasing problem world-wide, we see the plastic tide daily. More than eight million tonnes of plastic is thrown away each year and washed out to sea. It takes centuries to break down. It’s eaten by marine creatures and it’s in our food chain. Scientists can’t say how dangerous plastic is to human health, but it’s clear the effect on wildlife is devastating. Fish, whales, dolphins… hundreds of species have eaten plastic.
Prior to C-19 we conducted regular “Beach & Underwater Cleanups” we invite the local community to take part and we help educate people to become ‘Ocean Hero’s” and torchbearers by reducing their own waste products. We need to get back to work and continue these projects.
HOW WILL WE USE THE FUNDS RAISED?
We would like to conduct at least one Ghost Net Search & Recovery & one Beach & Underwater Clean Up per week. This will cost MYR 5,150.00 (GBP 1,050.00) per week. This money will pay for our salaries to conduct the projects, our logistical overheads, disposal of trash & nets.
For every MYR 2500.00 (GBP 525.00) raised we will conduct one program so if the donations begin right away, then so do we. We have budgeted for two projects per week until March 2021 at which time we hope borders will open, clients will return and our company can support the projects again. We will live stream and publish every program on our social media platforms so sponsors can see for themselves the good they have contributed towards. If we exceed the budget GREAT … this means more lives will be saved.
YOUR SUPPORT IS MUCH NEEDED
Since 2004, prior to Covid-19 our company paid for these much needed conservation programs with company profits, we can prove this via countless videos, blogposts and published articles via our media platforms and our participants and followers media channels. Sadly with little or no income and continued mounting overheads we can not afford to allocate funds for these programs, yet the need to conduct them remains stronger than ever.
HEART FELT APPRECIATION
We have been overwhelmed by the support & concern our clients have shown for our company and our employees wellbeing. Anyone that has met our team has nothing but precious memories of the time spent with us. For our team to see this outpouring of support from people that don’t know us but believe in the cause that is so important means so much. Our team want to work, they want and need to provide for their families and they want to rest well at night knowing they have contributed to saving marine life. Our heart felt appreciation is given to anyone reading this and even more so to those that can support us. THANK YOU.
Individuals can donate any amount to contribute to a conservation project and companies can sponsor an entire project as part of their CSR commitment. You can even virtually join us on the conservation day itself !
We are a PADI 5 Star IDC Career Development Centre & Travel Company based in Sabah, Borneo. Covid-19 has bought the dive & travel industry to its knees with many companies unable to pay their team.
Our crisis management plan meant we had to reduce our employees by 25% and now we are desperately trying to bring the rest back to work, however the big question is, what can they do with borders closed and therefore no clients?
Our second concern is for the environment. Since 2004 we have been using our company profits and resources to fight the ever growing problem of ocean trash through beach cleanups and underwater fishnet removals. To date we have educated over 3,000 people to become torchbearers in reducing plastic waste, we have collected more than 3 tons of ocean trash, removed more than 400 abandoned fishing nets snagged on coral reefs and saved thousands of marine life that would have otherwise perished.
Since C-19 hit we are only out on our dive boats one or two days per week and our cash reserves are limited to keeping the company afloat.
So we’ve come up with an initiative to help solve both problems in the short term until borders open and our clients can return. We are asking for help funding our “Back To Work With Conservation” project.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS PROJECT?
Twenty five employees and their families, plus their extended families. Most of our employees are the main income earner in their family and in Sabah Borneo many generations of families live in the same house hold. There has been some government support but people are already struggling. If we can raise money for these conservation projects our company can bring the team back to work under full salaried employment for the conservation days.
Marine life such as turtles, sharks, coral reef fish and crustaceans will benefit. A rogue fishing net, colloquially termed ‘ghost nets’ because it continually fishes even after being discarded, can be up to 100m long and 30m wide. Whilst they are left on the reef un-suspecting marine life get snagged in them, they struggle for their freedom and often larger fish will feel the vibrations of an injured creature and become snagged themselves and the devastation continues. We find everything from crabs, clown fish, snappers, turtles and sharks entangled in the net, often still alive and waiting to be saved.
If we are not out scuba diving along the reef we do not see them, we need be to out a few times a week to discover them early enough to save the majority of marine life entangled. Eventually if the ghost net is not removed it will smother the living coral and the coral will die.
Beaches, mangroves & coral reefs will benefit: Beach clean ups are a routine job for our island teams. Sadly ocean trash is an increasing problem world-wide, we see the plastic tide daily. More than eight million tonnes of plastic is thrown away each year and washed out to sea. It takes centuries to break down. It’s eaten by marine creatures and it’s in our food chain. Scientists can’t say how dangerous plastic is to human health, but it’s clear the effect on wildlife is devastating. Fish, whales, dolphins… hundreds of species have eaten plastic.
Prior to C-19 we conducted regular “Beach & Underwater Cleanups” we invite the local community to take part and we help educate people to become ‘Ocean Hero’s” and torchbearers by reducing their own waste products. We need to get back to work and continue these projects.
HOW WILL WE USE THE FUNDS RAISED?
We would like to conduct at least one Ghost Net Search & Recovery & one Beach & Underwater Clean Up per week. This will cost MYR 5,150.00 (GBP 1,050.00) per week. This money will pay for our salaries to conduct the projects, our logistical overheads, disposal of trash & nets.
For every MYR 2500.00 (GBP 525.00) raised we will conduct one program so if the donations begin right away, then so do we. We have budgeted for two projects per week until March 2021 at which time we hope borders will open, clients will return and our company can support the projects again. We will live stream and publish every program on our social media platforms so sponsors can see for themselves the good they have contributed towards. If we exceed the budget GREAT … this means more lives will be saved.
YOUR SUPPORT IS MUCH NEEDED
Since 2004, prior to Covid-19 our company paid for these much needed conservation programs with company profits, we can prove this via countless videos, blogposts and published articles via our media platforms and our participants and followers media channels. Sadly with little or no income and continued mounting overheads we can not afford to allocate funds for these programs, yet the need to conduct them remains stronger than ever.
HEART FELT APPRECIATION
We have been overwhelmed by the support & concern our clients have shown for our company and our employees wellbeing. Anyone that has met our team has nothing but precious memories of the time spent with us. For our team to see this outpouring of support from people that don’t know us but believe in the cause that is so important means so much. Our team want to work, they want and need to provide for their families and they want to rest well at night knowing they have contributed to saving marine life. Our heart felt appreciation is given to anyone reading this and even more so to those that can support us. THANK YOU.
Organizer
Joanne Swann
Organizer
England
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