DID YOU KNOW:

- 29% of the Great Barrier Reef died in 2016 alone.

- 25% of ocean life depend on coral reefs.

The bleaching and death of the GBR was caused by increased water temperatures, as a direct impact of global warming. Marine life also have a lot more to contend with - pollution being another huge threat.

But it's not just the Great Barrier Reef that has been affected, we have seen struggling corals across the globe, including in the South Pacific.

An Acropora colony on Christmas Island, Kiribati, before and after bleaching that struck the reef in 2015 and 2016. Before Photograph by Kieran Cox, After Photograph by Kristina Tietjen. Source: https://bit.ly/2s8D7lv

In August next year, I will be travelling to Beqa Island, Fiji for 4 weeks with Frontier to do my bit in helping to raise local awareness and taking part in tropical marine and coastal conservation field work, with the aim to help preserve Fiji's marine and coastal biodiversity. This will include using under water visual census methods, studying a range of marine life and species that live on the island, recording observations of the feeding habits & behaviour patterns of a range of marine life and taking part in critical habitat mapping .

During my time on the island, I will be working with local communities to increase their awareness and appreciation of the marine environment, and aim to arrange several beach cleans with the local community to reduce the impact of pollution on the local marine life.

I would be truly grateful for sponsorship to achieve my goal to complete this conservation trip. All contributions will go to the trip costs, including flights, basic accommodation and equipment. Any monies raised in addition to the core trip costs will be donated to the Marine Conservation Charity. If I am not able to reach the target amount, any additional money over those already committed will be donated.

LINKS:

Frontier: https://frontier.ac.uk/projects/120/Fiji-Marine-Conservation-%26-Diving

Marine Conservation Society: https://www.mcsuk.org/