Healthy Oceans mean Happy People - We can all do our part to show Ocean Love.
Even though The Bahamas has over 700 islands and cays, 98% of The Bahamas is seawater! Around the world, oceans, seas and coasts are home to over 250,000 species of living things, some of which we haven’t named yet. This marine biodiversity is important for ocean health.
Healthy and clean oceans are essential for life on Earth. Most of the oxygen we breathe is made by marine life, and the ocean absorbs a lot of human-made carbon dioxide (up to 26% every year). For Bahamians, the sea provides people with food, fun, and finances (through selling things from the ocean or attracting visitors).
UNESCO declared 2021-2030 the “Decade of the Ocean”. So the next ten years is a chance for countries worldwide, and local communities like Cat Island, to take responsibility for protecting the oceans and fairly sharing its resources.
How will you pledge to care for the ocean and make sure that everyone, now and in the future, can receive its benefits?
As a YME Family we have committed to improving our skills for the Blue Economy. This looks like training as many certified community marine scientists as we can to ensure that more Bahamians have the skills to benefit from all that the Ocean has to offer.
The first part of the training includes developing confidence and comfort working underwater. This process begins with the PADI Open Water Diver Course.
The beauty of our Greenwood classroom makes learning relaxing and fun. Dive Instructors Pauline Van Branco and Nikita Shiel-Rolle are patient and calm cultivating a learning environment that makes it soothing to learn and master new and sometimes initially scary skills like recovering a lost regulator for the first time or removing and replacing your mask underwater.
After completing their science diver training. Our Certified Community Marine Scientists will co-design a marine biodiversity monitoring plan to help better understand the health of the coral reef systems surrounding our island. This will include understanding the extent of the impact that the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease has had on coral reefs, especially the evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered pillar coral .
The Bahamas has extensive biodiversity both inside and outside of national parks that need to be protected and can support more sustainable livelihoods for Bahamians.
Join us in driving the innovation that will generate the solutions required to combat the impacts of climate change and ensure that island communities like Cat Island are resilient, prosperous, and at the vanguard of the knowledge creation that will result in a sustainable blue economy for all.
Together we make it make sense. Donate Today.