In June of this year, Project AWARE expanded its conservation efforts in China through a new partnership with the Better Blue Project, a part of the China Next Foundation. This partnership allows Project AWARE to expand their global movement; educating and empowering even more ocean adventurers to protect the ocean planet.
“With so many Chinese divers advocating for the marine environment, we felt it was time to support however we could,” says Project AWARE’s Director of Global Operations, Danna Moore. “To do that, we knew it was extremely important to collaborate with local community groups to fully understand the conservation opportunities and challenges, interests, and needs on the ground.”
The Better Blue Project engages divers and diving professionals in sound marine conservation practices and scientific education across China. Established in 2015, Better Blue’s mission is to solve problems in marine ecosystems by combining the efforts of private, public and third sectors. Knowing that the diversity and richness of marine life is rapidly disappearing due to human activity, Better Blue provides training for professional divers to take part in conservation practices such as marine sanctuary protection and conducting marine life surveys.

Working to increase awareness for ocean protection in China, the organization runs seminars, workshops, and courses throughout the country and so far more than 20,000 people have directly participated in Better Blue events. Through partnerships with more than 20 institutions, Better Blue has also created ocean awareness centers called “Blue Spaces” in 30 Chinese cities.

With this under their belt, Better Blue proves a perfect fit as a partner for Project AWARE and the collaboration is set to advance the shared conservation goals of both organizations, including work towards the United Nations “Life Underwater” Sustainable Development Goals, to sustainably manage marine resources and strengthen the protection of the oceans.

As part of the partnership, Project AWARE will support activities, such as marine documentary filmmaking, reef checks, Dive Against Debris® and the UN Environment #CleanSeas campaign, organized by motivated divers. These efforts will be led by Miao Wang, founder of the Better Blue Project and Chinese ambassador of i-Seahorse citizen science program. Her dedication to the capacity building of divers’ knowledge and skills for ocean conservation has recently received recognition on an international level.

Miao was selected as one of the Regional Finalists in the election of the UNEP Young Champion of the Earth 2018 – a forward-looking prize designed to breathe life into the ambitions of brilliant young environmentalists. Miao stands out from more than 600 candidates as one of the very few candidates whose focus is on ocean conservation issues in China.

The partnership between Project AWARE and The Better Blue Project aims to provide the tools needed to further empower the Chinese dive community to take action for the ocean and to increase ocean awareness and protection amongst the Chinese community at large.

Source: scuba diving