&Beyond is turning its focus to marine conservation, with plans to help highlight practical and effective global marine conservation solutions through its Oceans Without Borders project and Oceans Without Borders Small Group Journey.
The small group itinerary incorporates a hands-on experience of the various marine projects running at &Beyond Vamizi Island in Mozambique, hosted by Dr Tessa Hempson, Oceans Without Borders Operations Manager.
&Beyond Vamizi Island.
The privately guided six-day small group set-departure journey from March 14-19 and October 9-14, 2019, aims to offer insight into the marine conservation and community development activities, which underpin the Oceans Without Borders initiative.
Guests will delve into the area of marine conservation and gain first-hand knowledge of significant ocean environmental issues whilst learning about the importance of the reef systems surrounding Vamizi Island, as well as key challenges facing these areas.
Guests will stay at one of the &Beyond Vamizi villas and have access to renowned conservationists and specialists, while getting involved with conservation activities, such as what it takes to become a qualified &Beyond dive instructor or marine biologist, and spending time with local communities, as well as day trips to the private Rongui Island.
For experienced divers, Neptune’s Arm dive site is available, as well as visits to the protected grey reef shark breeding site. Guests can either arrive early or stay on to complete an Open Water or Advanced Diving qualification.
A host of other activities are offered by &Beyond Vamizi Island, such as kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, snorkelling, and exploring the island.
The tour is suitable for guests with older children and those looking to travel with a purpose.
All proceeds raised from this journey go towards Oceans Without Borders.
In addition, &Beyond is aiming to make guests more aware of their ability to influence the health of the world’s oceans through their daily choices. “In order to drive awareness, we have put together a pledge that we encourage guests at our marine properties to take. This calls on them to be mindful of their behaviour towards the earth and the oceans by monitoring their use of plastics, buying less and recycling wherever possible, “explains Joss Kent, &Beyond CEO.
“We call on them to become more aware of their choices, taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and consume resources sustainably. Most importantly, we seek to create an army of environmental advocates, asking our guests to take responsibility each day for educating one person about the challenges facing our planet,” adds Kent.
For the Oceans Without Borders project, &Beyond plans to use its three island properties – namely &Beyond Mnemba Island off Zanzibar, &Beyond Benguerra Island and &Beyond Vamizi Island in Mozambique – as well as its marine activities at &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa, to link and influence more than 3 000 kilometres of Indian Ocean coastline.
Similar to &Beyond’s land-based projects, the ultimate aim of Oceans Without Borders is to establish a conservation model that can be exported to other marine environments that face a similar threat. The project has set itself the following objectives:
- Logistical support of and enlarging of current marine protected areas (MPAs)
- The upgrading of current MPAs to marine reserves, which have a higher level of protection
- Driving sustainable community benefits throughout tourism to marine conservation areas and developing alternative revenue sources for island or coastal communities
- Supporting current conservation and research initiatives and establishing new ones
- Using flagship projects to showcase the challenges facing marine ecosystems around the world
With community development being a cornerstone of this approach, &Beyond will be working with its community development partner, Africa Foundation, which has already made a significant impact in the communities surrounding &Beyond’s island lodges.
“Throughout 2018 we will be focusing on the first phase of the project,” explains Hempson. “This involves gaining a better understanding of the social and ecological context on each island, as well as developing a sustainable monitoring tool for analysis and assessment.”
Community needs will be assessed through a process of consultation and programmes will be developed to support the creation of sustainable livelihoods. The first phase of the project will also see the review of current monitoring protocols for species such as turtles, whales and others. Finally, the three island environments will be monitored to measure and set baselines against which to measure change.
“Each of the three islands has also identified its own priorities for conservation and research,” says Hempson. At &Beyond Mnemba Island this involves the upgrading of the marine conservation area, while at &Beyond Benguerra Island the initial focus is on community projects. &Beyond Vamizi Island has run a programme to assess the populations of predator species and will be focusing on the tagging of grey reef sharks and other species.
“We also aim to support the process of having the community sanctuary that surrounds the island declared a nationally gazetted MPA,” concludes Hempson.
For more about the project, as well as the Oceans Without Borders Small Group Journey, click here.
