The Reef-World Foundation: Empowering Youth to Safeguard Coral Reefs in Bayahibe: Q2 2024 Progress Report Summary
The total number of assessments done against the 15 assessment targets is 2. Firstly, Galleon Divers' and secondly, for Slow Dive - Casa Chihuahua. There are now 4 dive operators with Green Fins active status across the Dominican Republic. Twelve operation staff members received environmental training during the Green Fins assessments.
As the school year is now in its final stage or has already ended for some schools, we plan to engage in conversations in early September to calendarize educational activities for 4 selected schools). As part of our initial assessment within the Bayahibe School System to identify potential participants for the Youth Eco Champions Program, we have identified four schools in or near Bayahibe. These schools present promising opportunities for engagement with the program, laying the groundwork for fostering environmental stewardship among students. We aim to integrate the Youth Eco Champions Program into their curricula or extracurricular activities, inspiring and empowering students to take active roles in environmental conservation.
Next steps:
Engagement and Training of Dive Center Staff: Reef Check Dominican Republic (RCDR) is planning to target 5 inactive members and bring them into active status. Their action plan is to firstly, initiate engagement strategies to reactivate these members. Secondly, plan and execute training sessions for 3-5 staff per dive centre, focusing on sustainable tourism practices. This should mean that the RCDR will have reached the staff training target of this grant by the end of Q3.
Expansion of the Youth Eco Champions Program: No plans as schools are starting summer vacations.
Multimedia Content Collection: The action plan continues as previously stated by collecting photos and videos from training sessions and GF assessments. The repository of multimedia content for reporting and promotional materials will be uploaded.
