At Seatone Consulting we believe in giving back to community-based conservation initiatives that are doing great work and need our help. Two of our favorites are the Roatan Marine Park, in the Bay Islands of Honduras, and the Placencia Mooring Masters (PMM) in Southern Belize. Seatone has hosted many benefit concerts over the years in San Francisco, California to lend support to these two exceptional organizations!
The Roatan Marine Park is a community-based, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Honduras’ marine and coastal ecosystems. The park works closely with communities to provide education, training and improve the conservation of marine ecosystems and associated species. Their mission is accomplished through a broad range of programs and resources, none of which would be possible without the support donors, including patrol boat engines purchased with Seatone-raised funds.
Established in 2006 with two small grants from the Coral Reef Alliance, PMM is a group of marine tour operators and concerned citizens in southern Belize who install and maintain a network of mooring buoys in order to reduce anchor damage along the reef system. However, maintaining moorings over time across a large expanse of reef requires sustained revenue, a marine tourism sector committed to sustainable practices and countless volunteer labor hours.
“Our efforts to promote sustainable marine recreation along the reef could not be sustained without the ongoing support provided by Seatone’s fundraisers,” says PMM Coordinator Marion Carr. “Donations have been used to purchase equipment, install and maintain moorings, design educational materials and offer incentives for tour guides who commit time and labor to support the program.”
The Mesoamerican Reef System is the second largest coral reef ecosystem in the world. The reef is a vital natural resource for communities along the coast in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. However, the reef faces severe threats from overfishing, pollution, climate change and the rapid growth of unsustainable coastal development and marine tourism. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the reef a World Heritage Site in 1996.
Seatone Core Service Areas
- Strategic planning and organizational development
- Situational assessments and feasibility studies
- Multi-stakeholder facilitation, consensus building and conflict management
- Inter-agency coordination and communication
- Standards development and sustainable business practices
- Trainings, focus groups and workshops
- Mentoring and professional coaching
