Sea turtle conservation, Belize

Planet

Carbon Reduction

Our island base of operations on the Belize Barrier Reef is powered by 100% renewable energy! In Belize solar power is readily available and our non-profit/ngo has made the commitment and investment in a greener and more sustainable future. Our island rooftops are covered in solar panels that harness the renewable energy of the sun to fuel our day-to-day energy needs. We do have a back up generator to provide a supplemental energy source should there be several days of cloud cover.

Sustainable Diet for the Planet

As an environmental conservation organization, we try to be as eco-conscious and sustainable as possible. According to scientists, a plant-based diet is the single biggest way to reduce your impact on the planet. Meat production affects not only climate change emissions, but also freshwater and land use, as well as water and air pollution.

Since avoiding meat is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, we strive to provide a mostly plant diet based with protein sources from the ocean (invasive lionfish) and occasionally chicken. Thus, eating invasive lionfish is a win-win for the environment!! If you require a diet high in protein, we recommend bringing protein bars to supplement your diet.

Environment and Wildlife

We are one of the leading NGOs/non-profit marine conservation organizations in Belize and has been developing and working on a wide variety of marine conservation projects to protect the Belize Barrier Reef and ocean ecosystem since 2006. We are a registered NGO in Belize as well as a registered non-profit in the USA.

Our marine conservation efforts focus on the following:

• Eradicating invasive species from coral reefs: Invasive Lionfish population control and monitoring (spearing and dissecting lionfish).
• Marine conservation education: Learning about coral reefs and marine animals and discover how we can protect our reefs from a warming planet.
• Biodiversity (fish, invertebrates, and coral) identification dives to increase one’s knowledge and understanding of reef ecosystems.
• Weekly beach and island trash/plastic removal on islands of the Belize Barrier Reef.

People

Local Economy

Our mission is to not only protect our coral reefs and oceans, but to also provide sustainable employment and job training to poor coastal Belizean communities. Our staff is comprised almost entirely of Belizeans, who we have been hired through our internship/job training program. They serve in leadership roles as managers, marine biologists, educators, and scuba dive instructors.

Our ultimate goal is to utilize scientifically researched based approaches to conserve and protect fragile marine and coastal habitats, and create livelihoods to support the culture and traditions of the coastal communities of Belize. We have demonstrated the scalable potential of marine conservation to bring lasting benefits to people and biodiversity in some of the world’s poorest coastal communities. Effective community-based conservation and sustainable management of reefs is critical to the future of Belize.

Employment, Inclusivity, and Diversity

All of our staff our local Belizeans! In addition, most of our staff are Belizeans of Mayan descent, which are a marginalized indigenous people of Belize. We are proud to provide a living wage to all of our staff members which is why we have had very little turnover in our staff through the years. Most staff member have been with us for years - something we are very proud of.

We are an equal employment opportunity organization that does not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation or nationality. We are
proudly LGBTQ+ friendly!