Seacology - Saving Island Environments

1. Marine and terrestrial island environments need to be conserved.
2. Islanders across the world deserve better opportunities.
3. Environment and culture go hand in hand.

Environment - Conservation and Environmental Education

Today, islands are home to the greatest number of endangered species on the planet. For the last 500 years, 62 percent of all mammal and 88 percent of all bird extinctions have been island species. Currently, the top ten hotspots for species extinctions worldwide are all on islands. When islands species die, islands become uninhabitable causing the demise of ancient island cultures. Seacology addresses this crisis.

Seacology searches for win-win situations where both the local environment is protected and islanders receive a tangible benefit for doing so. At present, islands host some of the most economically and environmentally fragile communities on earth. Seacology steps in with aid for islands when they have an economic need they cannot possibly meet or when their ecosystems are under immediate threat from loggers, commercial fishing fleets, blast fishing, poaching, exploitative development, resource/wildlife extraction, or impending species extinction. Once a communal need is identified by islanders, Seacology then implements solutions, such as providing an elementary school or sanitation facilities, in exchange for the establishment of a marine or forest reserve.

Since 1999, Seacology has launched over 160 island-based projects on 90 islands in 41 countries around the world. We have saved 1,808,452 acres of marine ecosystems and 157,181 acres of increasingly rare terrestrial habitat. Seacology has helped islanders build 74 facilities such as schools, community centers, fresh water delivery systems and other critically-needed structures, and funded 26 programs providing scholarships, vital medical services and supplies for island communities.