Recently in Project Updates Category

I've been at Seacology for nine years now (I was the first paid employee, beating Executive Director Duane Silverstein by around a week). Each time a board meeting comes and passes, I'm astounded at both how time flies, as well as how we have grown as an organization. At their June 9 meeting, Seacology's board of directors approved seven new projects, bringing our total number of projects to 176. Moreover, a really cool milestone has been reached - Seacology now has projects on 100 islands in 44 countries throughout the world.

Wow.

Following are short descriptions of the projects passed by Seacology's board of directors at their June 9 meeting. You can find full descriptions on our website.

AMERICAN SAMOA, Pago Pago Village, Tutuila Island - Phase 3: Eradicate the dense stands of the destructive Falcataria moluccana tree adjacent to the National Park areas of American Samoa (NPSA). *

Left: Children on the mangrove walkway, Wasini Island, Kenya.

Seacology Field Representative Simon Ellis and project leader Frankie Harriss sent us some wonderful photos and a report from the Ailuk Community, Marshall Islands. The Ailuk Community established a 160-acre marine protected area and a 55-acre terrestrial/marine protected area for a period of ten years.

In exchange, Seacology funded the construction of a solar-powered airport terminal and guest lodge. The project began in July 2007. In spite of some setbacks due to a lack of shipping options for materials to this remote area, the construction phase of the project was completed in January 2008 (photo of building under construction and completed below).

January and June are exciting times around the Seacology office, as those are the typical months for our board meetings.  As I wrote in this post, the months leading up to the meetings are busy times for me as I work with our field representatives to gather information for potential projects to be presented to the board for approval.

This time around, our board of directors approved 10 new projects.  I am especially excited that Seacology is expanding into a new region by funding a project in the Red Sea.

Following are short descriptions of the projects passed by Seacology's board of directors at their January 21 meeting.  You can find full descriptions on our website.

Above left: Seacology is assisting Egypt's Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Organization in the installation of 25 mooring buoys around the islands of Wadi El Gemal National Park, Red Sea.  (Photo credit: HEPCA.)

The project that originally launched Seacology took place in Falealupo, Samoa and has remained a wonderful example of Seacology's win-win strategy. In the early 1990s the Samoan government told this remote village that if they did not build a better school, teachers would be removed and their children would not be educated. Having no other source of revenue, the villagers sold logging rights to their rainforests. Before this could happen, however, Seacology co-founder and chairman Paul Cox worked with the village chiefs and raised the funds for the school in exchange for a covenant protecting the 30,000 acre rainforest. The Falealupo Rainforest School was constructed, and since that time Seacology has had a close relationship with the village.

An integral final step to many of Seacology's projects is for the island villages to erect a sign.  This is a lovely acknowledgment of Seacology's partnership with island communities, but it also is a symbol of one of Seacology's most important philosophies.  I cannot possibly articulate it as well as Dr. John McCosker, senior scientist for the California Academy of Sciences:

"Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, Seacology gets more output than any conservation group that I've seen. They're not giving money away, they're not making grants, they're making deals."

These signs act as an important reminder to the communities that the needed infrastructure we provide is not a handout; it is part of a trade-off in recognition of a commitment to conservation of their precious natural resources.

I thought I'd post photos of some of these signs.

The sign at left is on one of 11 schools in Madagascar's Mangoro region that received Seacology-funded repairs in exchange for community agreements to protect the last remaining habitat of the Mangoro Flying Fox.  Due to hunting for bushmeat, uncontrolled fires and logging, just a few pockets of forest remain as roosts for these large bats. 

Seacology is also funding repairs to local municipal offices, and an educational component, with a conservation art competition scheduled to begin in early 2008.  The winning artists will be awarded by members of the Seacology 2008 expedition to Madagascar and South Africa.  Information on this trip can be found here.  Click here for more information regarding the Mangoro project.

In the last few weeks we have had quite a few updates from Seacology's field representatives and project contacts on islands throughout the world. Here are a couple of updates from projects in Indonesia and India.

In Indonesia, Seacology field representative Arnaz Mehta notes that Seacology's project in Waigeo, Raja Ampat, is moving along smoothly. In exchange for a nine village agreement to establish a 123,553-acre marine protected area within the Mayalibit Bay, Seacology is providing a series of infrastructure improvements including constructing public washrooms, walking paths, and solar cell electricity for lighting so that children can study in the evening.

Seacology has a commitment to stand by our island projects when disasters such as the major tsunami hit the Indian Ocean in December 2004. Thanks to generous donations to Seacology's Tsunami Relief Fund of 2005 Seacology was able to provide relief projects to communities where Seacology had a presence before the event. These projects were intended to complement larger relief organization efforts in affected areas by providing to community members long-term relief in terms of restoring damaged village homes and community centers, or by providing materials and supplies communities said they needed most in order to regain traditional livelihood practices.

One of the updates we received this past week was from Seacology's long time friend and contact, Mr. Anuradha Wickramasinghe, Director of the Small Fishers Federation of Sri Lanka (SFFL). When the 2004 tsunami swept across this area of Sri Lanka, Seacology responded to SFFL with three projects to help community members recover from such a devastating trauma to their lives and community. Seacology repaired the damaged Seacology-funded SFFL Mangrove Resource Center, rebuilt a destroyed fishers' community center and provided sustainable fishing canoes and fishing gear to 88 families in the region, and replaced 15 lost fishing boats for a sustainable fishing cooperative in the area. This last project was just completed in mid-2007 and now each boat is owned and run by three family members who each provide food and income to an average five-member household (above right).

Lisa's post from last week, "Island News from Fiji and Palau," brought me back to my trip to Micronesia in July. Accompanied by our Micronesia Field Representative Simon Ellis, I traveled to visit Seacology projects on Kosrae, Chuuk, Yap and Palau. Here's an excerpt from my report regarding Palau:

"The staff of the Palau Conservation Society kept us quite busy, with visits to the new company capitol on Babeldaob, a very impressive complex along the new Compact Road. The new road and the capitol will very much open Babeldaob to resettlement from Koror as well as new development pressures. We visited the Melekeok Bai (ceremonial house), walked an ancient stone path and attended the opening of a new open-air market near the capitol, where we met with the former president of Palau as well as the chief of Melekeok State (where Lake Ngardok is located).

This week we heard from Seacology's field representative in Fiji, Mr. Saula Vodonaivalu Jr. He has just visited Nukubalavu Village at Savusavu, Vanua Levu Island. In exchange for the village establishing a 25,600 acre marine reserve for twenty years, Seacology is providing funds to build a kindergarten building (below). The building is now almost complete with installation of fixtures and fencing still to be completed as soon as the building supervisor can return to the village.

Also, we received a brief report from our field representative for Micronesia, Mr. Simon Ellis. While Seacology's project with Palau Conservation Society (PCS) at

Lake Ngardok (right) has experienced some delays due to the building permitting process, all permits were granted last month and PCS is ready to begin purchasing materials and finalizing plans to begin construction of a solar-powered eco-friendly visitor and education center at the lake. Seacology is providing the funds for this construction in support of the 1,236-acre Lake Ngardok Nature Reserve.

Seacology receives updates from our island projects weekly. Here are a few from the last couple of weeks. In Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, Seacology funded the installation of a solar power energy system for the Utwe Walung Marine Park community center in 2000. The solar system had not been working for some time due to the lack of current community member training on the system's maintenance and the harsh weather conditions on the system's batteries. A cement building has been built to house the batteries and Seacology is providing a second grant to repair the system and provide a training session. Work is scheduled to begin in late October.

On Atiu Island, Cook Islands, an opening ceremony was held on September 21st for the brand new geriatric house for community members. This housing was built with Seacology funds in support of the community's decision to establish a 297-acre wildlife sanctuary and five mile restricted fishing zone on Takutea Island for twenty years. Two hundred members of the community attended the event as well as a member of Parliament, the Atiu Mayor and the Atiu Secretary. Field representative Allan Tuara spoke on behalf of Seacology and had the honor of turning the key to declare the building open.