The Reef-World Foundation - which coordinates the Green Fins initiative internationally in partnership with the UN Environment Programme - led another series of successful ocean conscious business seminars at at DEMA Show (13-16 Nov 2019). These free events, which were attended by representatives across all segments of the dive industry, help businesses and professionals find ways of seating sustainability at the heart of their business model.

This year, the events explained what an ocean-conscious approach is and how this will help businesses across the dive sector thrive. In this session, the team from Explorer Ventures gave a deep dive into the sustainability challenges associated with liveaboard travel.

Sustainability and Liveaboard Travel

Rachel Huber, Explorer Ventures

Chloe introduced the session by mentioning the huge challenge liveaboard travel has presented in the past when it comes to sustainability. Green Fins works largely with land-based dive operations and liveaboards have sometimes been considered the “cowboys” of the industry. Because of the logistical challenge accessing liveaboards poses for Green Fins assessments, the initiative hasn’t been able to work with them until more recent years. This began to change through Reef-World’s partnership with Explorer Ventures which was started to help overcome the very specific environmental challenges faced by liveaboards.

To give some background, Rachel explained Explorer Ventures had some sustainability initiatives – for example, offering carbon credits – back in the early 1990s but, without customer buy in, these were unable to gain enough momentum and fizzled out. They continued working in the “greenest way [they] knew possible” within the fleet but struggled to get a lot of customer support for their environmental efforts. In 2017, they took what they were doing and reimagined it; working for the first time in partnership with The Reef-World Foundation.

Rachel gave an overview of the sustainability challenges faced by liveaboards when dealing with a global fleet: “you’re dealing with international boundaries and different kinds of infrastructure” as well as provisioning. For example, could they find products wrapped in banana leaves rather than plastics? To help them find solutions, in 2018 they invited the Reef-World team on board to do Green Fins’ first ever liveaboard assessment and set a baseline of where they were in terms of sustainability. They then used the results to refine and reimagine their Dive Green sustainability management policy. Starting in the Caribbean, they ensured the plan was integrated, working properly and identified gaps that still required solutions. Now this has been completed, these sustainability practices are expanding across the rest of the fleet.

Rachel recognised that “nobody is perfect and it’s all about getting better and working towards being more sustainable all round.” She also mentioned the importance of involving all levels of the business in coming up with solutions: “from crew right up to management.” She added that “some of the best solutions come from crew members who are on the ground and working there day-to-day.”

Innovative solutions to sustainability problems have included:

working with local art programmes to take in and repurpose waste products in locations where there is no recycling
putting sustainability education at the forefront of everything they do and trying to change every customer into an advocate from day one by addressing issues in a “Know Before You Go” document pre-departure as well through repeated messaging when they’re a “captive audience” on the boat
transparency about where funds are spent if customers choose to donate
striking the right balance on the delicate line that promotes education and enforcement while managing to get everybody on board and not alienate customers
giving visual examples of the impact people are making; for example, before and after a clean-up or demonstrating the tangible results of their donations so they can see what they’re participating in. It’s a great way to get them on board as advocates and then send them home to help spread your message

She also gave some tips on how to choose a sustainable operator:

Look for involvement in Green Fins or other programmes that are good for the environment
Ask questions to find out more about the sustainability of the operation

o Do they feed fish, sell coral, touch marine life, or follow other negative diving habits?

o Do they use their power to create a positive impact - Are the crews on-board and eco-certified?

o Do they do public outreach and education?

o Do they work with local community?

o Do they assist scientists or do marine research?

Check the company’s website to see what environmental policies they have
Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions on social media about their sustainability practices
Check if their reviews on TripAdvisor back up that they follow environmental best practice and there are no examples of fish feeding or touching or harassing marine life

This seminar series was made possible by the sponsorship of four companies who are already on the sustainable diving pathway and represent different stakeholder groups in the dive and travel industry:

Fourth Element is innovating dive manufacturing by producing dive gear using ghost fishing nets, biodegradable packaging made from vegetables is leading the latest environmental movement within the industry – Mission2020;
Explorer Ventures - is working towards the elimination of single-use plastics onboard its Caribbean vessels. It is also helping The Reef-World Foundation establish targeted liveaboard protocols as part of the Green Fins initiative with the hope of improving dive operator and liveaboard environmental policies worldwide;
Paralenz - a Danish tech company dedicated to the Ocean. Together with divers across the globe, they have developed a camera that enable divers to capture and share the state and life of the Ocean as a seamless part of the dive;
Blue O Two / Worldwide Dive and Sail works with partners with similar philosophies, sources local, sustainable products wherever possible, runs reef clean-ups and educates guests about how they can make a difference; for example, by encouraging them to bring eco-friendly toiletries, such as sunscreen and toothpaste.