UNDERWATER PARK DIVE SITE
Creating a Sustainable Haven with Our Underwater Park Dive Site
In today's rapidly evolving world, our oceans face various threats, one of them being the impact of human activities, such as scuba diving and boating on fragile coral reef ecosystems. The inadvertent contact, sometimes caused by inexperienced or unaware divers, can damage or break corals that took years to grow, disrupting their growth and overall health.
Enter our innovative initiative, the Underwater Park Dive Site Project, a unique and interactive dive site designed to reduce the traffic on natural reefs and redirect it towards a safe and fascinating Dive Site for experienced divers as well as beginners.
By creating a designated Dive Site with meticulously planned structures like pyramids, statues, and buoyancy practice areas, we plan to offer a controlled and safe environment for divers of every level. This approach allows divers to gain confidence and work on their skills without inadvertently causing harm to natural reefs. In addition, this designated site acts as a training ground, promoting responsible diving practices and encouraging awareness of the importance of coral reef conservation.
Our future Dive Site will not be just a recreational haven; it’ll be a sanctuary for marine life. By diverting divers, we actively reduce the pressure on these delicate ecosystems. This redirection helps the natural reefs recover and regenerate, ultimately helping in their long-term sustainability. Those structures will also act as new habitats for marine life.
The Dive Site will also provide a dynamic field for marine biologists to conduct tests, surveys, and research, contributing to our understanding of marine ecosystems and helping conservation efforts. Through this visionary Underwater Park Dive Site Project, we aim to find a balance between tourism and environmental preservation, offering a one-of-a-kind scuba diving and snorkeling experience while actively protecting our oceans!
MOORING BUOY PROJECT
Anchoring in the Change: The Mooring Buoy Project
The Mooring Buoy Project is a proactive approach aimed at preserving marine environments and ensuring safety for everyone in the water, specifically focusing on the health and sustainability of our coral reefs and aquatic life. We strategically install safe mooring buoys in key dive and snorkel sites to minimize damage caused by anchoring, providing boater captains with a responsible alternative.
Anchoring can cause irreversible harm to delicate marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. By installing mooring buoys, we ensure that boat captains can secure their vessels without damaging these vital habitats.
Safe mooring buoys significantly amplify the safety of divers, snorkelers, swimmers, and marine life. By designating secure mooring areas away from anchor lines and boat engines, we reduce the risks of accidents and ensure a safer and more enjoyable experience for water enthusiasts.
The Mooring Buoy Project encourages active community participation. We work closely with residents, captains, dive centers, and tourism operators, who act as our eyes and ears on the ground. They report to us if a mooring buoy is broken or damaged, or if a dive site needs a new mooring buoy, and we act quickly to ensure a network of safe dive sites for the entire dive community.
DIVE & COASTAL CLEANUPS
Our Clean-Up Initiatives: Cleaning up for a Sustainable Future
The ocean faces an escalating crisis – the constant invasion of plastic debris and other pollutants. Plastic waste alone has reached catastrophic proportions, inflicting severe harm to marine ecosystems. These pollutants pose a grave threat not only to marine life but also to human health, as they accumulate through the food chain.
Marine animals often mistake plastic debris for food, leading to ingestion and suffocation. The effects ripple through the ecosystem, disrupting the delicate balance of underwater life. Plastic pollution also releases toxic substances, further endangering marine and human life. The health of our oceans directly correlates with the health of our planet and ourselves.
At the DANA & IVAN CERNY FOUNDATION, we have made it our mission to do our part to fight this crisis. Every week, we survey different dive sites within our area to confront this menace. Armed with bags, gloves, and motivation, we clean our beloved dive sites, beaches, and coasts regularly and report everything to keep track of the menace.
Each clean-up is an opportunity to make an impact! We encourage all beach lovers, divers, and snorkelers to bring a trash bag with them to make a difference. Even small, every cleanup and every piece of trash out of our coasts counts!
Our efforts extend beyond weekly cleanups. Monthly, we organize extensive Cleanup Events including Coastal Cleanups along the beach and Dive Cleanups twice a month. We recognize the importance of collaboration, so we join forces with our community, including local dive centers, dive operators, businesses, and passionate individuals. This helps bring awareness to this issue and allows us to be more efficient during our cleanups.
These events serve as a platform to educate and raise awareness within the community. We firmly believe that informed individuals make conscious choices, empowering them to contribute to a sustainable future. By spreading awareness on responsible waste disposal, the dangers of single-use plastics, and the importance of recycling, we aim to help shape a community deeply committed to environmental preservation.
By participating in our events, you not only contribute to a cleaner ocean but also become a part of the change. You help in the restoration of marine habitats, ensuring a better life for countless marine species and, in turn, for us!
RECYCLING FISH
Plastic pollution presents an imminent threat to marine ecosystems worldwide, and coral reefs are not an exception. Plastics interact negatively with marine life as they are often mistaken for food or unintentionally consumed. Sometimes, animals also find themselves trapped in plastic, impeding them from moving and feeding.
As part of our commitment to reduce the waste in our seas, DANA & IVAN CERNY FOUNDATION started a new initiative by installing artistic fish structures to recycle plastic bottles. You can find these fish in several coastal sites of touristic and environmental interest around Bayahíbe, La Altagracia. Next to the fish, you can also find a blue trash bin for general waste.
With this initiative, we can prevent more plastic from reaching our oceans and give new life to discarded plastic bottles. Due to the way they are built, these fish structures allow us to visualize the unnecessary quantity of plastic we consume, and therefore, the need to reduce it.
From DICF, we hope to count on your collaboration for healthier coasts by leaving no trash behind and reducing plastic consumption!
