This project, led by the NGO Roots of the Sea, engages Martiniquan and Caribbean youth in the celebration of Mangrove Week by creating a mangrove tree nursery (planting 50-75 mangroves) and doing a mangrove cleanup event. They also aim to establish a mangrove network with other organizations across the Caribbean.

SOA Thailand is seeking to grow and strengthen the network of people working on ocean conservation issues in Thailand. They will do this by conducting a series of online workshops, as well as one offline workshop and an online/offline art exhibition in Bangkok.

In Japan, the proportion of women engaged in occupations related to the ocean is significantly lower than that of men, and many women are not able to play an active role in marine-related fields. To address this issue, this project hosted events to: (1) Create an environment where the next generation of young people can develop marine literacy; (2) Establish an HR network centered on young people with interdisciplinary and specialized knowledge of the ocean; (3) Promote the conservation and sustainable use of the sea (SDG14), and also help work towards gender equality (SDG5).

The Casa Mangle Foundation in Cartagena, Colombia conducted a mangrove restoration project that involved the local community. Twenty local leaders were selected and trained in mangrove restoration and seed germination. A wooden structure for the mangrove nursery will also be constructed.

mymizu is a water refill platform connecting people to locations across Japan where they can refill their water bottles for free, instead of buying bottled water. With this grant, mymizu built a stronger community of refill partners, enabling tens of thousands of community members to kick the plastic habit, further raise awareness of ocean plastics, and step up the fight against single-use plastics in Japan and beyond!

Sawfish Project Indonesia is an interdisciplinary project that seeks to provide data about sawfish to local and national governments to implement legal protections for them. Sawfish Project Indonesia ultimately aims to enhance the capacity of indigenous peoples in Merauke to continue the important work of sawfish conservation locally. This project will perform an incubator workshop to teach the youth of Merauke about sawfish conservation.

This project, led by Innoceana, aims to study reef health in Cocos Island, Costa Rica, by carrying out aerial and underwater surveys to then create 3D georeferenced maps. Info collected includes total coral coverage, coral bleaching, algae coverage, and abundance of healthy versus diseased corals. Additionally, the project will train Cocos Island Rangers and Costa Rican university students on the mapping methodology and provide workshops to the Costa Rican public on the importance of coral reefs. Ultimately, the goal is to provide justification for the expansion of the Cocos Island Marine Protected Area.

This project teaches local youth in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to be guardians of their ecosystem. In July 2020, with the help of 25 youth volunteers, they deployed 21 artificial reef units off the coast of Fisherman Island, Port Moresby. These volunteers will continue to monitor the growth, species abundance, diversity, and overall biomass on each reef. All survey methods will involve the collection of both still photos and video for post-field analysis and use for informational, outreach, and promotional materials.

A group of researchers led by Trent Tresch will conduct multiple deep-sea dives to study the six gill sharks and the presence of microplastics at depths of 1000-2,500 feet off of Roatan, Honduras. The footage and findings from their research is shared through a display at a local museum, and SOA is partnering with them to share their project to raise awareness of the ways human impacts are being felt even at the depths of the ocean.