The Chamber of Diving and Watersports is celebrating the first Green Fins trainers to complete the “Train the Trainer” programme in Africa and the Middle East Region
The Reef-World Foundation—the international coordinator of UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative—has successfully trained and certified three new Green Fins trainers from the Green Fins Egypt national team. They are now qualified to train new Green Fins assessors in the country, building capacity for the initiative’s continued expansion in the country.
Due to the increasing demand for the Green Fins programme by dive and snorkel operators in Egypt, the Green Fins Egypt team has undergone the Green Fins “Train the Trainer” programme in October 2022. Reef-World developed the “Train the Trainer” programme to assist the national teams in becoming more independent and sustainable. Following the week of training, Egypt now has a national Green Fins team comprised of three fully certified Green Fins trainers and nine Green Fins assessors from the Chamber of Diving & Watersports (CDWS).
Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “The team behind Green Fins in Egypt are such a unique mix of individuals with decades of diving experience and more than 100,000 dives between them. The team is constantly breaking down barriers and thinking really innovatively to work with the industry to overcome some systemic patterns of behaviour. By building their capacity to now train new assessors, they are more sustainable as a national team and can plan ahead to ensure they have the right people in the right places to continue to drive change within the marine tourism industry. I’m really hopeful that as the Green Fins network in Egypt grows, we can engage the right government agencies in further supporting the future sustainability of the Egyptian diving and snorkelling industry.”
Green Fins Egypt was launched in September 2019. The programme was piloted in the South Sinai Governorate with the CDWS leading all Green Fins activities in the country. The plan is to strengthen sustainability within the marine tourism sector across Egypt by guiding operators towards a more sustainable operating model. Training and encouraging the adoption of the Green Fins management approach to reduce their impact on the marine environment.
Mostafa Hefny, Chairman of the Chamber of Diving & Watersports, said: “Green Fins is raising awareness of the diving industry on the importance of sustainability and providing useful solutions to our problems. Egypt is leading the way in sustainable diving in the Middle East and African region.”
Building on the successful pilot, Green Fins was then expanded to be available to all dive and snorkel operators across Egypt in 2020. The team was lucky to complete the roll-out before the pandemic hit and travel restrictions prevented further implementation. Despite the setback, the team has continued to assess Members where possible, and there are now Green Fins-certified dive and snorkel operators in all of the key destinations in the Red Sea.
Lina Challita, Environmental Manager at the Chamber of Diving & Watersports, said: “As a team, we are happy to become some of the few assessor trainers in the world. We hope to reach as many operators as possible and help with positive change in the industry.”
Green Fins provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for the diving and snorkelling industry and has a robust assessment system to measure compliance. The initiative aims to protect and conserve coral reefs through environmentally-friendly guidelines that promote a sustainable diving and snorkelling tourism industry.
About Reef-World
The Reef-World Foundation is a registered UK charity which delivers practical solutions for marine conservation around the world. The charity promotes the wise use of natural resources – particularly coral reefs and related ecosystems – for the benefit of local communities, visitors and future generations. It is dedicated to supporting, inspiring and empowering governments, businesses, communities and individuals around the world to act in conserving and sustainably developing coastal resources.
Reef-World leads the global implementation of the UN Environment’s Green Fins initiative, which focuses on driving environmentally friendly scuba diving and snorkelling practices across the industry globally. As such, the charity provides low-cost and practical solutions to local and industry-wide environmental challenges associated with the marine tourism industry. It provides education and capacity-building assistance to empower environmental champions (within the diving industry, local communities, authorities and governments) to implement proven coastal resource management approaches.
Please visit www.reef-world.org to learn more or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About Green Fins
Green Fins is a proven conservation management approach – spearheaded by The Reef-World Foundation in partnership with the UN Environment – leading to a measurable reduction in the negative environmental impacts of the marine tourism industry. The initiative aims to protect and conserve coral reefs through environmentally friendly guidelines that promote a sustainable diving and snorkelling tourism industry. It provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for the diving and snorkelling industry and has a robust assessment system to measure compliance.
Green Fins encourages and empowers members of the diving industry to act to reduce the pressures on coral reefs by offering dive and snorkel companies practical, low-cost alternatives to harmful practices – such as anchoring, fish feeding and chemical pollution – as well as providing strategic training, support and resources. Reducing the local direct and indirect pressures tourism puts on coral reefs helps make corals healthier and more resilient to other stresses such as the effects of climate change. Look for the Green Fins logo when booking your next dive trip.
Please visit www.greenfins.net to learn more or follow the initiative on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About the Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS)
The Chamber of Diving and Watersports is a non-profit organization, founded by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism in 2007 with a goal to improve quality, safety and standard of services in the diving and watersports industry, as well as to preserve the unique environment of the Red Sea. CDWS is exclusively the sole inspection and auditing body in Egypt and the official representative for the diving and watersports sector on local and international levels.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media