Papua youth education and marine hospitality training

Raja Ampat in Papua, Indonesia hardly requires an introduction to marine wildlife lovers. Its remote crystal blue waters, abundant coral reefs and megafauna, combined with its unique culture attract visitors from all over the world. Decades of work by NGOs has established a vast network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Raja Ampat, as a recognition of its special value. The area is becoming increasingly accessible for tourists with land-based resorts and liveaboards now visiting the area in high numbers.

Despite the development of the tourism industry in the area the local communities still benefit little from this resource beyond traditional livelihoods of fishing and agriculture. This is partly due to the remote nature of communities and the lack of access to education and skills to work in this industry.

It will take time for Ocean Eye to establish localised targeted community programs in this vast region, so to begin making an impact we have teamed up with Child Aid Papua.

The wildlife sightings-based donations via Ocean Eye will go towards their program to train youth with skills to partake in the marine tourism industry. These include scuba diving, tour leading, language skills and hospitality training. By training young people we ensure the long-term economic benefits of tourism to coastal communities.

The students also learn environmental awareness and education to complement their traditional marine management knowledge and skills, ensuring they become effective guardians of their paradise for the future.

All year-round data collection is expensive and the citizen science provided via Ocean Eye will be valuable. The data will contribute to marine management activities and MPA monitoring and help to track biodiversity trends in the area more effectively.  The data will also be used to educate local fishing communities on the value of biodiversity alive.

We are calling all liveaboards, yachts and coastal resorts in the area to join our program and together create a more fair and sustainable future for the people of Papua.