Reef-World is proud to partner with businesses across the dive industry who are leading the way in sustainability practices. One of those is Explorer Ventures, which is working to reduce its footprint on the oceans through the Dive Green sustainability promise. To find out more, we chatted to Nelson Riollano, Operations Manager of Explorer Ventures Liveaboard Diving Fleet to find out more about what they’re doing to protect coral reefs, the challenges they’ve faced and what they’ve learned along the way.
How did Dive Green come about?
We originally launched our Dive Green sustainability management strategy over a decade ago. Initiating best practice policies on our vessels, updating our standard operating procedures, and reducing our footprint on the oceans. However, we did not make it publicly official until 2018 when The Reef-World Foundation encouraged us to assist in guiding policymaking for the diving and snorkelling industry.
Why is it such an important initiative for Explorer Ventures?
Our business relies on the natural world. Our customers want to see healthy marine ecosystems. They don’t want to see coral reefs that are bleached or inundated by algae or plastics floating by while they are in the water. As the impacts of climate change and other detrimental human activities on marine ecosystems become increasingly large, we knew we had to take a stand. It helps the business, but more than that, it is the right thing to do.
The EV team taking part in an underwater cleanup
What's the most innovating change you've made to reduce your environmental impact?
One of the considerable changes we made was a public commitment to both the Green Fins and Dive Green programs and a formal commitment to ocean health. Right next to that comes all the work we’ve done to encourage our guests to help us achieve our environmental goals; whether through Green Fins donations or not bringing single-use plastics, batteries, etc. onto the boats (and/or the islands where we operate). We encourage guests to join our Dive Green sustainability initiative from the moment they book their trip in their information packages (often a year ahead), right up to their last day on board with messages they can take home and share.
What's the most surprising thing you've learned about sustainability while implementing Dive Green?
The most surprising aspect of our implementation is how willing and receptive our guests have been. Guests have not questioned why we are making changes to reach our Dive Green goals; more frequently they are asking what else we can do to expedite the process. This has been encouraging and we have taken notice of feedback from guests, as well as all levels of our team.
What challenges have you faced in your sustainability journey and how have you overcome them?
We understand there is a climate crisis and we are a business that relies on the health of the oceans. Our biggest challenge is that we are impatient. We can see movement in the right direction but it seems slower than we would like it to be. It takes time to implement changes in policy, operations, and internationally across the fleet. Especially when we are one of a handful of businesses leading the way. To overcome this, we have been activating immediate and temporary solutions for the day-to-day efforts, while the larger policy changes are being made.
Nelson briefing Dive Green onboard Turks & Caicos Explorer II
Reef-safe sunscreen is becoming more and more of a topical issue. What sunscreen policy have you implemented for your guests?
We encourage reef-safe product use both onboard and at home. We have developed a pre-cruise information sheet that tells the guests about our Dive Green sustainability programme and gives them suggestions on what to bring (or not bring) onboard before they leave home. Once the guest arrives, we brief them immediately about what reef-safe sunscreen products we have available for them. We ask guests to use either their own reef-safe products or, if their products are not reef-safe, to use ours and take theirs back home with them.
What has been the reaction from guests - are you seeing more people switch to reef-safe products?
Absolutely. We're seeing a very positive reaction from guests; however, there is a general sense that not enough information exists 'out there' on how to choose the best reef-safe sunscreen. In light of this, we’ve created our own information sheet for our guests.
What advice would you give to other operators trying to reduce their environmental impact?
Take action on your part. Each operator can develop their own approach but there is no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. There are hundreds of operators that have researched best practices and successfully implemented programmes which operators can use as a guide. Even competitors need to work together. It’s us against time and damage already done.
