Pillars of Our Work
Direct action
for marine life
- To conserve marine biodiversity in Lebanon and to repair damage and reverse trends.
- To regulate fisheries to promote fishermen welfare and protect natural marine systems.
- Assessing intertidal biodiversity on several Lebanese coasts
- Creating viable markets for marine invasive species – including a cook book for the invasive lionfish (add a hyperlink here to the cookbook)
- Promoting sustainable fishing and sustainable seafood consumption
- Creating a strategy for the protection of the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus
- Creating a strategy for the restoration of fish nurseries in fishing ports
Education &
Awareness
- To increase ocean literacy among youth and the general public.
- To raise awareness among youth on the principles of sustainable development with regard to marine life – Sustainable Development Goals: Good health and wellbeing; Sustainable cities and communities; Responsible consumption and production; Climate action; Life below water; Partnerships for the goals.
- To foster understanding among communities of environmental pollution and environmental degradation, and its effects on human health, society, economy and politics.
- Podcast and video creation
- Giving numerous talks on many occasions to the public addressing issues of seafood consumption, marine pollution and marine life
- Displaying education booths along the seashores of Lebanon during the summer season
- Community service projects with high school students on topics related to fishing, marine pollution and marine life
- Training fishermen to adopt sustainable fishing practices
- Creating videos, infographics and podcasts that explain marine issues to the general public
- Hosting master students from different universities and different disciplines who want to do their research on marine related topics
Advocacy
- To encourage those who live in Lebanon, the private and the public sectors, and the coastal municipalities to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals and help to protect natural marine resources.
- To shine a light on issues of governance and transparency in the extractive industry, through advocacy.
- To train and mobilize communities for collective actions to promote the Sustainable Development Goals.
Coordination
- To provide a forum for bringing together stakeholders of the natural marine environment and the built coastal environment, from individuals, institutions and organizations in Lebanon and the entire Mediterranean basin.
- Hosting researchers and PhD candidates, and linking them with stakeholders relevant to their research
- Leading coordination efforts for removing and safely disposing of hazardous waste, including asbestos, in Beirut following the explosion of August 4, 2020.
- Creating networks, nationally and regionally, to tackle specific issues like marine invasive species
- Hosting researchers from different countries and linking them with other local researchers doing relevant work
