Empowering Whale Conservation and Marine Communities
A new grant to the World Cetacean Alliance will help protect whales and empower global marine conservation community
1 in 4 cetacean species are now threatened with extinction. Overfishing, entanglement, vessel collisions, plastic pollution, unsustainable tourism, and whaling are just some of the threats faced. The loss of these species significantly impacts biodiversity, deprives us of crucial allies in combating climate change, and threatens coastal communities' livelihoods and cultural heritage.
Many of the world’s cetaceans live close to shore and the threats they face are often co-located with tourism, fishing, shipping, resource exploitation activities and so on. But protecting cetaceans is a complex task. The multitude of threats, their migratory nature, and the global scale mean that effective solutions require effective, cross- boundary collaboration to drive impact. A lack of cohesion and collaboration among those making a positive difference remains, hindering effective solutions.
World Cetacean Alliance received a grant through ATCF’s “Adopt a Project” programme, an initiative that empowers the ATCF members and partners to directly support specific conservation projects around the world, providing meaningful contributions toward environmental and cultural preservation.
This impactful funding was made possible by the generosity of ATCF member Toad&Co, and will help to expand World Cetacean Alliance’s Whale Heritage Areas network, as well as launch a new online community platform to connect and empower their Partners and Whale Heritage Areas globally.
“We are truly grateful to the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) and Toad&Co for their support of the World Cetacean Alliance’s Whale Heritage Programme and our global marine conservation community. It is even more rewarding knowing that this comes from organizations that so deeply share our values and commitment to community conservation and responsible tourism. This generous contribution will enable us to empower local communities to celebrate, respect, and protect whales, dolphins and porpoises and their critical habitats. It also allows us to strengthen global collaboration by building an online platform that connects grassroots partners, amplifying our shared conservation efforts. By recognising the importance of both local and global collaboration in safeguarding cetaceans, ATCF is helping us amplify individual impact and create lasting change in marine conservation worldwide.”
To learn more about this grant, check out this post.
