Wriiten by Zanzibar Intern, Faye Sherlock
Our final conservation club brought about those bitter-sweet feelings that escort the New Year to our doorstep. Although another magnificent module comes to a close, there was excitement all-round since it was FIELD TRIP TIME! This Terms topic being ‘Save our Seas’, it was only fitting to go out into our beautiful ocean and learn about aquaculture.
The students of Kizimkazi came to the village we call home, Jambiani, where local entrepreneur and marine enthusiast, Okala, hosted us for a day on the project he works on in conjunction with marinecultures.org.
This particular community project focuses on sustainable coral reef and sea sponge farming, as well as fishing and sea weed farming. We were lucky enough to be joined by our project partner Dr Narriman who is also involved with this project and provided a wealth of information and inspiration to the children.
After a few splashes around the sponge farms, we headed back for a presentation on the wider scope of work they do, including their amazing artificial reefs. Using concrete balls they rebuild some of the destroyed reefs in this area. We saw how they farm coral, for the reefs and commercial sale. The day was filled with new information for us all and we hope to have filled our conservationists with the motivation and inspiration to explore these other avenues and be part of a new generation which works towards saving our seas.
We are excited to see what 2016 holds! If you would like to donate towards more conservation trips check out our Education and Empowerment Program for more details.