Raja Ampat diving project, Indonesia

Environment

The Raja Ampat Diving Project strives to work in partnership with the local government and communities, in order to protect the area’s incredible coral-reefs and the local people that rely on them for their wellbeing. The reefs require protection and conservation due to threats such as over-fishing and coral destruction.

Community

The tireless work carried out by the project’s staff and volunteers is infinitely more effective when supported by the local people who call this environment home. In order to ensure this support, the project runs many community initiatives.

The community projects that volunteers will be involved with have been designed in conjunction with the needs of the local community and government. Through regular meetings between the project and local stakeholders (government members, school groups, fisherman, farmers, etc), community projects are designed to make a real difference in these specific ways:

• Undertaking educational programmes on environmental issues, sustainable fishing techniques and the economic benefits of protecting marine areas

• Increasing quality of life and alleviating poverty in local communities

• Encouraging entrepreneurial attitudes to deter from unsustainable and destructive activities like shark finning or fishing with dynamite.

• Researching the effects of climate change on coastal communities