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BLUE MA
newsrnational extra
Living coral a
Belize Turneff
right), a marin
glorious Chag(below left)
Success for eco-charityThe Blue Marine FoundaTion is Turning
TheTide in The BaTTle For The earThs seas
Belize leads the wayThe charitys second-largest reserve has
just
been created in Belize, a nation that has embraced
BLUEs aims. As Belizeans we continue to be a
people with a great appreciation for conservation
and sound management of our marine resources,
says Lisel Alamilla, Belizean minister for forestry,
sheries and sustainable development. Belize is
on track to meet its own target of protecting 20 per
cent of its waters by 2020.
With guidance from BLUE and substantial
funding from the Bertarelli Foundation, Belize has
also designated the Turneffe Atoll, a marine
protected area (MPA). The atoll is the most
biologically diverse in the Caribbean, home to
manatees, crocodiles, turtles and rare coral.
It is the missing piece in a biological corridor ofMPAs that
extends over 3,866 square kilometres of
Belizes waters, says BLUEs George Dufeld. If
we can protect Turneffe it creates this enormous
wildlife path scientists are looking at not just
protecting little bits, but entire migration paths.
Alamilla was acutely aware of its importance. As
minister, one of the rst things I committed to was
to ensure this atoll was afforded legislative
protection; it provides an opportunity for its sound
management to safeguard the integrity of important
ecosystems and biodiversity and to sustain the
livelihoods of our artisanal coastal shers who have
depended on this atoll for generations.
The inclusion of local people is a vital plank
of the Turneffe project and all BLUE projects.
It is a much more complex marine reserve than
Chagos a gigantic, essentially unpopulated
area, says Dufeld. Turneffe is a mixed-use
area, there are shermen whose needs need
to be taken into consideration. As a wor king
The issue of overshing has twitchedto life in the public
consciousness. Freshfrom battling EU rules that make shermen
dump
perfectly good catches, the campaigning British
chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has turned his
attention and television cameras to the creation of
ocean conservation zones (Hughs Fish Fight: Save
Our Seas). Former UK minister David Miliband is
also leading the new Global Ocean Commission
that aims to protect sheries.
This increased interest has arguably been
sparked by The End of the Line, a 2009 documentary
lm about the devastating effects of overshing,
made by two founding members of the Blue
Marine Foundation (BLUE). The charity works
with governments and NGOs to establish marinereserves, then runs
regular patrols to ensure they
are protected. By increasing the area of ocean
protected by marine reserves from 2.3 to 10 per cent
over the next 10 years, BLUE aims to prevent the
barren seas that loom 40 years down the line and
the starvation of a billion people who rely on sh as
their primary food source.
BLUE successfully works with wealthy individuals,
particularly superyacht owners, with an interest in
keeping the oceans healthy. They have now been
joined by high-end companies such as the luxury
travel website Mr and Mrs Smith, Marks & Spencer
and restaurant empire Hix. Swimwear brand Orlebar
Brown is extending its line of BLUE trunks, which
feature photographs of humpback whales taken by
charity co-founder George Dufeld, while Crme
de La Mer produced a limited edition Blue Marine
moisturiser in both cases proceeds go to the charity.
Whether the money is private or corporate, the
purveyors and consumers of luxury have proved a
powerful force creating the worlds largest marine
reserve, Chagos, in the Indian Ocean, in BLUEs rst
year. The charitys patrols funded by the BertarelliFoundation
protect the 247,000 square mile site
and have already seized 25 illegal shing vessels.
The waters of Chagos Archipelago are eight to
20 times as abundant with life than in many other
places in the same ocean, notes Profess or Charles
Sheppard of Warwick University, in a report o n his
recent expedition.
The photography of Professor
Charles Sheppard reveals how
clean and abundant are the
waters of the protected Chagos
Archipelago (top)
www.b
exemplar its much more applicable els ewhere.
A signicant proportion of the budget for the
project will be spent on communication and
education to the local community. Its not a hard
sell. Fishers should experience a more sustained
production level, which will generate more
income for their households, says Alamilla.
Dufeld agrees: They know shing is collapsing,
theyre getting less every year and its taking more
effort. Theyre waiting for somebody to help them
get to a more sustainable future. And for help in
protecting it. My ministry, with the assistance of
donors like that of the Bertarelli Foundation, will
continue to work with its stakeholders, in particular
the co-managers of the reserve, to provide long
term nancing and management to the area and
ensure its protection, says Alamilla.
Dorset successBLUE has also found local shermen to be a
driving force for its project on the other side of the
world, in Lyme Bay, on the UKs Dorset coast.
photography:Charles Sheppard; Craig Hayes, Turneffe Atoll
Trust;Andrew Winch Designs; Photography Christian Stromqvist
www.boatttol.om
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7/29/2019 Blue Marine News
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CONTACT: BLUE t:+44 (0)20 7845 5850
e:[email protected] w:bluemarinefoundation.comFor more
information on the BMYC please email
[email protected]
newsinternational extra
Yacht designer Andrew Winch has endured
temperatures of -30C to carve a suite from icesnow, inspired by
BLUE, at the ICEHOTEL, nor
the Arctic Circle in Jukkasjrvi, Sweden.
The suites design mimics the shape and ribs
whale, and proceeds will be donated to the cha
As yacht designers, nature
remains our biggest inspirat
Winch says. We are conscio
the fragility of the worlds oc
This project seems differe
from designing a yacht, but W
notes, I see each project as
art. I am lucky to have the
opportunity to create spaces
visually reward our clients in
same way a painting does, b
also be lived in and interacte
with. This is the case in all ou
projects, whether it is a yach
aircraft, architectural projec
a suite at the ICEHOTEL.
Winch carves ice hOTeL
Ten years ago the bays rocky reefs, with their
sunset corals and sea fans, were being smashed to
bits by scallop dredges. A marine reserve set up by
the Government failed to improve sh stocks and
riled local shermen.BLUE entered the scene, working with shermen
in
four ports, including Lyme Regis, to agree a voluntary
code limiting the pots and nets they can use. In return,
they are likely to retain access to the shery and aid
the recovery of the reefs. They also get a marketable
sh caught sustainably in the Lyme Bay Fisheries and
Conservation Reserve. The notable feature is it is
voluntary. As BLUE puts it: One day we will back
away, leaving a management system in place.
Oliver Letwin, the Member of Parliament for West
Dorset, calls it, A remarkable code, which offers a
prospect of sustainable shing off this wonderful
part of Britains coastline.
Where tourism helpsIts not just communities and politicians
making
changes. On the Baa Atoll in the Maldives, BLUE has
collaborated with another stakeholder in the marine
environment: the tourism industry. Hotels agreed to
donate a percentage of income to the management of
the area. BLUE helped seed-fund the local managing
body and will invest in the enforcement of the area.
The leisure industry protecting its resources is a
great model, says Dufeld.
Blue Marine Yacht ClubYacht owners are still at the heart of
BLUEs work.
The charitys most recent yacht-related coup has
been characteristically high-net-worth and low-key.
Following a speech at the launch of the Blue Marine
Yacht Club at the 2012 Monaco Yacht Show, HRH
Prince Albert has become the Clubs patron.
Members (who nancially support the charity) y a
burgee designed by Ralph Lauren. The sight of them
in glamorous ports is a public statement of support
for BLUE and hopefully the beginning of a trend. It
seems to be working, with four new members sincewe last reported
on the Club (see the October issue)
including Olivier de Givenchy and Peter Dubens.
These people, like an increasing number of others
across the world, understand that the oceans are the
repository of much of Earths natural wealth and
they really are too big to fail.
HRH Prince Albert of Monaco
charity co-founder Chris GorBarnes at the opening of the
Marine Yacht Club, of which
prince is patron
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