What is a PADI ECO Centre?
Dive Timor Lorosae is the only PADI Eco centre in Timor Leste.
To become a PADI Eco centre the dive centre first has to be an active member of Green Fins – an organisation protecting coral reefs through sustainable tourism by engaging dive centres, snorkelling centres and liveaboards to protect the marine environment where they operate.
Then the dive centre has to ‘Adopt A dive Site’, we chose La Casa, an artificial reef built by us and recently improved upon with the addition of some new pyramids. By adopting a dive site you commit to conduct 1 ‘Dive Against Debris’ a month and submit the data via PADI Project Aware.
But it doesn’t stop there. By being a PADI Eco centre we are constantly looking at ways to reduce our plastic footprint by using reusable shopping bags, washable lunchboxes, cutlery and cups. Using gallon water containers that are refillable, offering a ‘Refill my Bottle’ service and using our recycling centre for our soft drink cans.
What is Dive Against Debris?
Once a month Dive Timor Lorosae organise a ‘Dive Against Debris’ where members of staff and volunteers from our diving community dive to collect debris from the seabed and collect the trash in mesh bags. The trash is then taken back to our dive centre and sorted into categories according to the Dive Against Debris data card.
This data is then reported on the Dive Against Debris website where the data is used by marine researchers and policy makers for conservation efforts.
Dive against debris is worldwide with 90,000 torchbearers participating in this programme.
What is the Dive Against Debris Specialty Course?
This month we certified Zach as our very first Dive Against Debris Specialty Diver. Congratulations Zach.
The Dive Against Debris course goals are:-
1. To gain an understanding of the worldwide marine debris problem
2. To equip the diver with the skills and knowledge to make a meaningful difference in solving marine debris problems.
3. To teach the diver how to complete a dive against debris and reporting the data.
4. To encourage the diver to monitor local dive sites as a means of supporting essential scientific research that helps prevent debris entering the ocean
5. To show the diver how they can make a difference by being part of the PADI community of ridding the oceans of marine debris.
The course is 1 day and consists of theory, 1 dive and then the practical side of sorting and recording the data.
If you are interested in this course or joining a Dive against debris dive contact us for details.