Project of the year
Find out more about how we engage, inspire, inform people about marine environment, blue issues and impact on wildlife.
The first charity we are sponsoring in 2022-2023 is the Manta Trust.
The Manta Trust is a charity registered in the UK with affiliate projects worldwide, in over 25 countries. Their mission is to advance the conservation of manta and devil rays (mobulids) and their habitat through robust science and research, by raising awareness and providing education, influence and action. Their vision is a world where manta rays and their relatives thrive in healthy, diverse marine ecosystems.
The Manta Trust is a global player in marine conservation and its projects range from satellite tagging oceanic manta rays in Mexico (Mobula birostris), to investigating the movements of the reef manta ray (Mobula Alfred) in the Maldives, to evaluating and quantifying the threats to manta rays and related species in Sri Lanka and India, to working with fishing communities to better understand migration patterns of mobulid rays in Indonesia.
The Manta Trust is a charity registered in the UK with affiliate projects worldwide, in over 25 countries. Their mission is to advance the conservation of manta and devil rays (mobulids) and their habitat through robust science and research, by raising awareness and providing education, influence and action. Their vision is a world where manta rays and their relatives thrive in healthy, diverse marine ecosystems.
The Manta Trust is a global player in marine conservation and its projects range from satellite tagging oceanic manta rays in Mexico (Mobula birostris), to investigating the movements of the reef manta ray (Mobula Alfred) in the Maldives, to evaluating and quantifying the threats to manta rays and related species in Sri Lanka and India, to working with fishing communities to better understand migration patterns of mobulid rays in Indonesia.
WHY THE MANTAS?
Mantas are a beautiful, iconic species that fascinate ocean lovers around the world. They are also an incredibly valuable tourism resource for many coastal communities and island nations.
Unfortunately they are some of the most threatened fish in our seas. They are being killed for their highly priced gills used in the Asian medicinal trade (despite there being no proven health benefits) and as bycatch by high seas fisheries. This has had a devastating impact on populations; the devil ray population has seen a decline between 50% and 90% since 1993.
For this reason all mobulids species are listed as “vulnerable” or “endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Thanks to the work of Manta Trust and other NGOs, in 2013 manta rays were listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In 2016 also all the devil rays were listed on the CITES and all mobulids are now listed on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species. This means that countries must prove that any international trade in manta gills planted is sustainable and non-detrimental to the survival of the species, essentially an impossibility due to their life history traits.
The work of Manta Trust is hugely important as every manta ray sighting provides a key piece in a huge jigsaw puzzle, enabling the them to better understand the population size, composition, migratory routes, reproductive output, native ranges and areas of critical habitat. This data is crucial for the global protection of the mantas.
WHERE ONCEAYEAR COMES IN
The Manta Trust believes in addressing conservation challenges through three key pillars: research, education and collaboration.
The project supported by Onceayear Global Ocean is focused on education and awareness. It aims to engage, inspire, inform people about marine environment, blue issues and impact on wildlife, empowering them to take action for the oceans.
Thanks to the support of Onceayear Global Ocean, this year the Manta Trust is launching their Global Education Strategy.
The Manta Trust team will develop their global education strategy starting from their successful experience with the Marine Education Programme delivered in the Maldives since 2015 and will expand and adapt the programme for a global approach and diverse audience.
Onceayear Global Ocean is wholly aligned to Manta Trust in believing that conservation can only be effective when everyone has a seat at the table. Currently, the marine conservation sector is predominantly made up of people from privileged backgrounds. Those who can afford a university education, diving qualifications and international travel. We need to take action to help overcome some of the barriers to inclusion in our sector.
As such, the project’s core objective is to see all species of Mantas and their relatives protected by the people closest to them in means that promote wider ocean conservation.
The Global Education Strategy aims to build a global network of inspiring educators coming from within the local communities. The Manta Trust will empower their local project leaders to run more educational outreach, providing resources and inspiring people to take action for their own environment.
The local educators will be supported with training, guidance and materials including regular group video call with global network of educators, webinars with experts in multiple fields, marine education newsletter and international education project to facilitate peer-learning across countries.
This will allow the educators to develop relationships with schools in less privileged areas, provide schools with free educational outreach, provide training on marine issues for teachers and seek collaboration with corporate and dive industries to obtain diving scholarships for underprivileged youth to start a career in marine conservation.
The implementation of the Global Education Strategy will be closely monitored to make sure it adapts to the local needs. The Education Strategy aims to bring together local people with a diverse range of perceptions to the field, who become role models and empower others in their communities, creating a sustained socio-environmental impact.
Mantas are a beautiful, iconic species that fascinate ocean lovers around the world. They are also an incredibly valuable tourism resource for many coastal communities and island nations.
Unfortunately they are some of the most threatened fish in our seas. They are being killed for their highly priced gills used in the Asian medicinal trade (despite there being no proven health benefits) and as bycatch by high seas fisheries. This has had a devastating impact on populations; the devil ray population has seen a decline between 50% and 90% since 1993.
For this reason all mobulids species are listed as “vulnerable” or “endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Thanks to the work of Manta Trust and other NGOs, in 2013 manta rays were listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In 2016 also all the devil rays were listed on the CITES and all mobulids are now listed on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species. This means that countries must prove that any international trade in manta gills planted is sustainable and non-detrimental to the survival of the species, essentially an impossibility due to their life history trait.
The work of Manta Trust is hugely important as every manta ray sighting provides a key piece in a huge jigsaw puzzle, enabling the them to better understand the population size, composition, migratory routes, reproductive output, native ranges and areas of critical habitat. This data is crucial for the global protection of the mantas.
WHERE ONCEAYEAR COMES IN
The Manta Trust believes in addressing conservation challenges through three key pillars: research, education and collaboration.
The project supported by Onceayear Global Ocean is focused on education and awareness. It aims to engage, inspire, inform people about marine environment, blue issues and impact on wildlife, empowering them to take action for the oceans.
Thanks to the support of Onceayear Global Ocean, this year the Manta Trust is launching their Global Education Strategy.
The Manta Trust team will develop their global education strategy starting from their successful experience with the Marine Education Programme delivered in the Maldives since 2015 and will expand and adapt the programme for a global approach and diverse audience.
Onceayear Global Ocean is wholly aligned to Manta Trust in believing that conservation can only be effective when everyone has a seat at the table. Currently, the marine conservation sector is predominantly made up of people from privileged backgrounds. Those who can afford a university education, diving qualifications and international travel. We need to take action to help overcome some of the barriers to inclusion in our sector.
As such, the project’s core objective is to see all species of Mantas and their relatives protected by the people closest to them in means that promote wider ocean conservation.
The Global Education Strategy aims to build a global network of inspiring educators coming from within the local communities. The Manta Trust will empower their local project leaders to run more educational outreach, providing resources and inspiring people to take action for their own environment.
The local educators will be supported with training, guidance and materials including regular group video call with global network of educators, webinars with experts in multiple fields, marine education newsletter and international education project to facilitate peer-learning across countries.
This will allow the educators to develop relationships with schools in less privileged areas, provide schools with free educational outreach, provide training on marine issues for teachers and seek collaboration with corporate and dive industries to obtain diving scholarships for underprivileged youth to start a career in marine conservation.
The implementation of the Global Education Strategy will be closely monitored to make sure it adapts to the local needs. The Education Strategy aims to bring together local people with a diverse range of perceptions to the field, who become role models and empower others in their communities, creating a sustained socio-environmental impact.
Previous projects: 2021-2022 – I AM WATER Ocean Conservation, based in South Africa.
The charity we sponsored in 2021-2022 is I AM WATER Ocean Conservation, based in South Africa. I AM WATER believes in marine conservation through transformational ocean experiences, and the ethos ‘you protect what you love’. Their mission is to foster physical and emotional connections to marine environments, and the impact of this mission is clearly stated in the Report on their achievements in 2020.
They feel especially passionate about working with low-income coastal communities where, despite living within walking distance of the shoreline, young people have never seen the world just beneath the waves. They work to build young people’s understanding of the interdependence between humans and healthy oceans, and encourage them to protect the ocean.
I AM WATER fosters a connection to the ocean through education, awareness, and advocacy, with a focus on innovative ocean snorkel workshops. Thanks to these programs, young people can often overcome deeply embedded cultural fears of the ocean and are more likely to appreciate the ocean as a place that needs to be protected.
I AM WATER’s amazing group of coaches are positive role models. They support young people in having safe and positive ocean experiences, completing a challenging task and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Young people that complete I AM WATER programs, known as Ocean Guardians, also increase their knowledge of marine biodiversity, become familiar with challenges facing our ocean and the daily skills needed to protect it. To date, I AM WATER have trained over 6,000 Ocean Guardians, and over 120 young people to deliver youth-friendly environmental education programs.
Previous projects: 2021-2022 – I AM WATER Ocean Conservation, based in South Africa.
The charity we sponsored in 2021-2022 is I AM WATER Ocean Conservation, based in South Africa. I AM WATER believes in marine conservation through transformational ocean experiences, and the ethos ‘you protect what you love’. Their mission is to foster physical and emotional connections to marine environments, and the impact of this mission is clearly stated in the Report on their achievements in 2020.
They feel especially passionate about working with low-income coastal communities where, despite living within walking distance of the shoreline, young people have never seen the world just beneath the waves. They work to build young people’s understanding of the interdependence between humans and healthy oceans, and encourage them to protect the ocean.
I AM WATER fosters a connection to the ocean through education, awareness, and advocacy, with a focus on innovative ocean snorkel workshops. Thanks to these programs, young people can often overcome deeply embedded cultural fears of the ocean and are more likely to appreciate the ocean as a place that needs to be protected.
I AM WATER’s amazing group of coaches are positive role models. They support young people in having safe and positive ocean experiences, completing a challenging task and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Young people that complete I AM WATER programs, known as Ocean Guardians, also increase their knowledge of marine biodiversity, become familiar with challenges facing our ocean and the daily skills needed to protect it. To date, I AM WATER have trained over 6,000 Ocean Guardians, and over 120 young people to deliver youth-friendly environmental education programs.
This year, I AM WATER has launched a new international initiative called the Oceans For All Alliance (OFAA).
The goal of the OFAA is to establish a global network of organisations working towards conservation and emotional health in low resourced coastal communities. I AM WATER aims to train like-minded organisations on their ethos, environmental educational content, child protection policy, methodology and operations. I AM WATER plans to use their flagship Ocean Guardians Workshop as a model to formulate the training program.
The training will take place at the group’s headquarters in Cape Town and will enable the organisations to host their own safe, fun, educational and transformational ocean experiences. This alliance will allow I AM WATER to share their knowledge from over a decade of working in the field. Open sourcing all they have learned facilitates the growth of many new organisations and of I AM WATER itself.
The Oceans For All Alliance envisions a consistently high standard for their affiliated partners to create a global community of Ocean Guardians.
The objective is to support these member organisations not only in training but also in equipment sourcing, monitoring and evaluation, and access to funding.
Interest has been expressed by organisations in Argentina, Spain, Miami USA, the Maldives, the Caribbean, Hong Kong and many African Indian Ocean nations.
They hope to run their first training in the southern spring of 2021.
The Oceans For All Alliance envisions a consistently high standard for their affiliated partners to create a global community of Ocean Guardians.
The objective is to support these member organisations not only in training but also in equipment sourcing, monitoring and evaluation, and access to funding.
Interest has been expressed by organisations in Argentina, Spain, Miami USA, the Maldives, the Caribbean, Hong Kong and many African Indian Ocean nations.
They hope to run their first training in the southern spring of 2021.