The 3reef PCRF Donation Drive

Update 2011

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<td align="left"><font face="Arial IMT" size="6"><b> Biosphere Foundation <br>December 2011 Newsletter</b></font></td>
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<td align="center" ><font face="Arial IMT" size="6"><b><i><div align="center">Happy Holidays! </div></i></b></font><br>
<div align="justify"><font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><b> From all of us at Biosphere Foundation (BF), we wish you a joyous holiday season and New Year! As 2011 draws to a close, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for your generous support and are excited to share all the progress you have made possible. </b></font></div>
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<div align="center"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/BaliCrew.jpg"> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><div align="center"><i>BF &amp; Yayasan Dwi Asih Sejahtera planting a Pilang tree in honor of "Friends of Menjangan:"<br> a community-based conservation program to protect Menjangan Island &amp; its reef</i></div></font></div>
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<br><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="justify"><i><br>Update on Sailing Vessel Mir<br>
<br></i></div></b></font> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"> <img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/mir_dock.jpg" vspace="5"><div align="justify"><b> Over the past year, our sailing vessel Mir ferried the Biosphere Foundation team, along with NGO representatives and scientists with whom we are collaborating, back and forth between our homeport of Singapore and our Indonesian land-based conservation projects that are
located in Bali and the remote Anambas Islands. Mir is now back in Singapore where a dedicated team of volunteers from around the world are working hard to replace the more than hundred year old deck to make the boat shipshape for the future.</b><i> (Photo left: Mir being secured on dry-dock at ASL Shipyard, October 24).</i></div>
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<br><img align="right" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/JoeLaserTeak.jpg" vspace="5"><div align="justify"><b> The project began early October and will take six months before Mir heads back to sea again. This daunting task would not have been possible without the support of our Raffles Marina Homeport friends, numerous <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-DNlHe.nEXKv9U%407069563-nuafFG61jvPOM" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">generous sponsors</a> and the extraordinary help from Deepblue PTE LTD, Seagull Marine and ASL Shipyard. In the coming months, please continue to follow our progress at <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-YurRPvB91benw%407069564-OnqF0fU2snFTk" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">mir-makeitreal.blogspot.com</a>.</b><i> (Photo right: Captain Mark Van Thillo with Joe Mallia removing the teak deck)</i></div></font></td>
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<td><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="justify"><i><br>The State of Indonesia's Coral Reefs - Expanding Conservation Models There <br>
<br></i></div></b></font> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"> <img align="right" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/redcoral.jpg" vspace="5"><div align="justify"><b> In Reefs at Risk Revisited, published earlier this year, the World Resources Institute (WRI), names Indonesia second only to Australia in its expanse of coral reefs, with approximately 75,000 km of reefs lying within its waters. A recent survey by Indonesia's Ministry of
Marine Affairs and Fisheries found only 6% of the country's reefs still in excellent condition and an estimated 2/3 of the reefs already damaged. With a population of 240 million people, Indonesia is regarded as one of the nine countries most vulnerable to the effects of coral reef degradation. With this in mind, over the past year, Biosphere Foundation has worked with local stakeholders to develop community-based demonstration conservation programs, which can be replicated throughout
Indonesia. </b><i>(Above: Vibrant feather star at night on Menjangan reef)</i></div></font><br>
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<br><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="justify"><i> Preserving the Biodiversity of Menjangan Reef <br>
<br></i></div></b></font> <img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/carolstudy.jpg" vspace="5"> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><div align="justify"><b>Located off Bali's northwest coast, a fringing reef surrounds Menjangan Island in Bali Barat National Park. It is remarkably biodiverse in comparison with the vast majority of Indonesia's reefs and thus preserving its health is of critical importance to the region as well
as to this beautiful reef. To assess the overall condition of Menjangan Reef, this year, in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society, we conducted intensive reef surveys both inside and outside of this Marine Protected Area to evaluate the reef's comparative health and biodiversity over time.</b> <i>(Photo left: Carol Milner collecting data for the reef study)</i><br>
<br><img align="right" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/snapperplastic.jpg" vspace="5"> <b>Our findings revealed damage from a variety of threats including: dynamite and cyanide fishing, overfishing, trash, plastics pollution, disease, poorly managed tourism, and bleaching caused by global warming. We have shared our data with many stakeholders, including National Park authorities to improve enforcement of No-Take Areas and to
provide baseline information to guide decisions that will ensure the reef's long-term preservation. </b><i>(Photo right: Checkered snapper inspects floating plastic) </i></div></font></td>
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<td align="center"><i>Bleaching corals at Menjangan reef</i></td>
<td align="center"><i>Overflowing trash bins on the island</i></td>
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<td align="center" ><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="justify"><i><br>BF Launches "Friends of Menjangan" in Cooperation with Indonesian NGO <br>
<br></i></div></b></font> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><b><div align="justify"> Given the strong interest expressed by the local community in protecting Menjangan Reef, Biosphere Foundation initiated Friends of Menjangan in cooperation with Yayasan Dwi Asih Sejahtera, our local NGO partner. The overall objective of Friends of Menjangan is to inspire and coordinate a community-based conservation program involving everyone who cares about Menjangan Island and its reef. Many
stakeholders attended the Friends of Menjangan inaugural education/outreach event, which took place over the weekend of May 6th - 7th, including: fishermen, local and national government officials, Menjangan Island temple priests, local and international NGOs, resort owners, dive operators, tour-guides, tourists, educators and over a hundred schoolchildren, who participated in a massive clean-up of Menjangan Island. All welcomed Friends of Menjangan's goal to develop a sustainable management
program for Menjangan Island and its reef. (Please join us at <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-wHBiHEhOVbTS6%407069565-vSfmnKPHmqHog" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">friendsofmenjangan.blogspot.<wbr>com</a>.) <br>
<br> Here are some of the first steps we have taken this year towards achieving this goal: <table border="0">
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<li>Commenced education/outreach programs for local and international students about conservation and waste management.<br>
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<li>Initiated an annual celebratory event in the name of Friends of Menjangan to engage stakeholders to join together in conservation such as trash collection (photo left), tree planting and information sharing.<br>
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<li>Installed additional buoys to protect Menjangan Reef from anchor damage and initiated efforts to enforce the use of moorings and stop all boats from anchoring on the reef. <br>
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<li>Launched educational programs for dive operators and divers, tour guides and tourists about reef fragility, which include posting signs such as below. <br>
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<br><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="justify"><i>BF Secures Durai Island as a Marine Protected Area <br>
<br></i></div></b></font> <img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/duraiturtle2.jpg" vspace="5"> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><div align="justify"><b>Durai Island, located in the South China Sea, is the nesting site for thousands of green and hawksbill turtles, and is considered the most populated sea turtle beach in the region. Over the past few years, BF, joined by our board member and sea turtle scientist Wallace
J. Nichols, and the island owners initiated a conservation program with Premier Oil to stop Durai's turtles from being harvested and sent to market. As a result, hundreds of thousands of sea turtle hatchlings are born and safely now return to the sea every year!</b> <i>(Photo right: Female green turtle returns to the sea)</i><br>
<br><b>A luxuriant, biodiverse reef surrounds Durai, but like all reefs in the region, it is threatened by over-fishing, dynamite and cyanide fishing, anchor damage, as well as oil and mercury contamination from oil drilling and bleaching caused by climate change. In an effort to protect Durai's reef and give the fish population a chance to replenish itself, the BF team met with local government officials and won the approval for a 2 km circumference Marine Protected Area around Durai
and its neighboring island Pahat. BF also initiated education/outreach about the MPA (see <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-e8enS1Yh8gEHk%407069566-xWI.FVp0GUKnU" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">kingdomofdurai.blogspot.com</a>) and planted the seeds for a community-based effort to implement a No-Take area within the MPA to give the reef and its dwindling fish population a chance to recover and thrive. </b></div></font></td>
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<br><img align="center" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/kiteimage.jpg" vspace="5"><br><font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><i>Aerial photograph of Durai Island taken by Kitty Currier - the black on the edges is the kite! </i></font></td>
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<br><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="left"><i>BF Works With Sri Lankan Government to Reinstate Marine Mammal Sanctuary<br>
<br></i></div></b></font> <font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><b><div align="justify"> All of the great whales were brought to near extinction by commercial whaling over the past century and are now included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened or endangered species. In 1979 the International Whaling Commission declared the Indian Ocean (north of 55° S latitude) a <i>Marine Mammal Sanctuary</i> and encouraged international cooperation to
protect the population of great whales in the area. Sri Lanka lies within the sanctuary and is a feeding area for blue, sperm, humpback and Brydes whales as well as other smaller whales and dolphins. At the invitation of the Center for Research on the Indian Ocean Marine Mammals, (CRIOMM) the BF team has made a series of visits to Sri Lanka to formulate a plan for reinstating the <i>Marine Mammal Sanctuary</i> there. BF will implement the first step of this plan in 2012 by starting a baseline
study about the <i>Abundance and Distribution of Cetaceans off the Coast of Sri Lanka</i>. Mir will be used to follow whales acoustically and catalogue individual whale flukes (tails) to provide an estimate of cetacean populations along the Sri Lankan coast. Additionally, BF will work with CRIOMM to train partners, develop education-outreach programs and community-based conservation initiatives, and inspire people to take action through film and photographic media. Our overall aim is to
collaborate with stakeholders worldwide to protect the great whales and to implement new laws banning the use of synthetic nets to eliminate the take of smaller cetaceans such as dolphins as by-catch. </div></b></font></td>
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<br><img align="center" alt="" border="0" hspace="5" src="http://www.biosfirindonesia.org/newsletter/images11/blwhtail2.jpg" vspace="5"><br><font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><i>A blue whale diving off the coast of Sri Lanka (Photo by Duncan Murrell) </i></font></td>
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<td align="center" ><font face="Arial IMT" size="5"><b><div align="justify"><i><br>Make a Difference - Support Biosphere Foundation!</i></div></b></font><br><font face="Arial IMT" size="3"><b><div align="justify">You can make a difference in the future of our biosphere by making a tax-deductible contribution to Biosphere Foundation today. Please donate online at <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-c94I1ot2Gzk7E%407069567-JGBzJRGIMrJSY" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">www.biosfirindonesia.org</a>. Your gift will make it possible for us to preserve and protect coral reefs, marine mammals, sea turtles and other marine life in Southeast Asia as well as expand our efforts to inspire stewardship of our ocean planet. </div></b></font></td>
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<br>Thank you again for your generous support!<br> To donate or for more information, please visit<br><a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-hBbTYjyHnaqBI%407069568-he9LUSx1gi/Mk" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">www.biosfirindonesia.org</a>, <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-Zs5BlyqbXGH8A%407069569-yk5d5rwk17QKw" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">www.biospherefoundation.org</a> and <a href="http://m1e.net/c?146939973-DdhdOhY2iakLg%407069570-6OCn3ABMpVmQI" style="color:#0a2f82;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">www.pcrf.org</a><br>
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Matt I just made my donation. It's not a lot but hope it helps

 

Hey elcucuu - thanks for supporting the site and PCRF much appreciated. Please send me a PM with PCRF receipt and I will set you up. THanks again!
matt

 

Wow! I didn't know this existed!

Ill be donating now.

The link is broken...

 

https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=728

here you go!

 

Hey thanks! I just donated while you sent the link.

It feels so good to help support something we all love.


Who else is going to donate?!

 

Sounds right up my ally seeing that I'm in the conservation field.

 

Done. Could only do $50 this time around.

 

I'll be making my donation as soon as I sell my lights and 55g, bump.

 

Donated.