This project works with local youth in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - to teach them to be guardians of their ecosytem. 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.

This project will highlight the traditional conservation methods of Papua New Guinea by conducting interviews with village elders from two villages and conducting awareness programs on upcycling thrash in the capital. Informed by the interviews, a trial of to determine how effective these traditional methods are will take place over 3 months and 3 provinces.

The Let the Sea Turtle Live Project is a continuation of a project started in 2019 by our Regional Representative, Forbi Perise. For this project, he and his team go to coastal communities in Cameroon to educate fishers about the importance of Sea Turtle Conservation, as they are still targeted in many communities for food.

This research project focuses on a natural self-defense chemical used by the sea cucumber species, Synaptula reticulata. The researchers hope to synthesize this natural repellent in the lab in order to use it as a natural pesticide for aqualculturists, which in turn can lead to faster growth rates and lower mortality of aquaculture-grown fish. With the funding, researchers will be conducting a background investigation to estimate population abundance of this sea cucumber, as well as conducting initial tests on extracting and synthesizing their chemical repellent. They will publish and share their findings with a wide audience.

Saltwater Classroom was founded in 2018 by Lexi Doudera, a marine biology major who understands that youth education is key to conserving coastal areas. She will build off the success of their SOA-supported curriculum on corals by conducting a  "Deep Dive" Workshop for 250 3rd-5th grade students focused on kelp forests in collaboration with non-profit partners. Participants will learn about kelp itself, kelp forests as an ecosystem, trophic cascade, particular species, as well as an introduction to kelp aquaculture and its role in today's ocean landscape. Behind coral reefs, kelp forests are the second most vulnerable ecosystem in the ocean and most people know very little about them.

This project is restoring Bahamian coral reefs and providing the next generation with tools to act as ocean stewards. The Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub located in South Eleuthera is a collaborative research and restoration initiative between The Cape Eleuthera Institute, Perry Institute for Marine Science, and The Nature Conservancy, aiming to reverse the decline of Bahamian reefs. They use the latest photogrammetry technology and methodologies to monitor coral restoration success and disseminate findings, providing information about the resiliency of coral genotypes local to Eleuthera.

10 students from the communities surrounding two mangrove forests, Mikoko Pamoja and Vanga Blue Forest, will be recruited and trained in forest monitoring and conservation to continue to provide over 7,000 tonnes of verified carbon offsets each year. This meets the important need these communities have for training and capacity building among local youth to engage them practical conservation projects. They will learn how to collect and analyze forest data, and receive training on key concepts of climate change, carbon sequestration and conservation that underpin the maintenance of these 'Blue Carbon' ecosystems.

World Saving Hustle's (WSH) is engaging their 600 members to continue their important campaign for a moratorium on deep seabed mining in Norway. In collaboration with WWF Norway and Friends of the Earth Norway, WSH will produce talks and articles, circulate 11 petitions throughout Norway, and make connections with at least 5 political parties to inform them about the issue and its impacts.

Thanks to the efforts of Healthy Reefs Initiative (a key partner in this proposal) the Cayman Crown coral reef was declared a "no-fishing zone" in May 2020 for the next 10 years by the Guatemalan government. SOA Mentor Fabio Aleina leads an effort to provide a scientific report and a policy brief (addressed to CONAP and presented at COP26) to support the inclusion of the Cayman Crown one of the healthiest reefs in the Mesoamerican region, into the no fishing zone and to upgrade the status to Marine Protected Area.