Grants

Marine Conservation

Giglio – Blue Island

€19,500 awarded

TEF is delighted to award a new grant to Giglio Blue Island, a project devised by Marevivo to recover waste and abandoned fishing nets from the waters around the island of Giglio, as well as enhancing the awareness of the sea as “important resource” through the placement of naturalistic- informative panels. Marevivo has its own Underwater Division that for decades has been organizing seabed cleaning interventions, mainly recovering abandoned fishing nets and gear.

From an exploratory survey carried out by a group of divers at Giglio Island, affiliated with the Sub Marevivo Division, various waste materials were identified such as washing machines, plastic, and even an abandoned net. The goal of this activity with the diving division is to recover this abandoned fishing net and also to increase and strengthen the awareness of local divers of their role as sentinels of the island’s seabed. In addition, the project also involves the creation of naturalistic-informative panels aimed at both making the local community and tourists aware of the precious biodiversity heritage that our seas host, as to suggest correct behaviors that can help protect these environments.

The key elements of the initiative are:

  • Underwater monitoring activity to better define the state of the art of the waste to be recovered.
  • No. 4 dives (1 for inspection and 3 for recovery) in the depths of the island of Giglio to recover and dispose of an abandoned net and various medium and large waste such as tires, household appliances, etc. already localized during previous surveys. About 12 divers will be involved plus a dive coordinator.
  • Verification of the most suitable areas from different points of view to host the panels in agreement with the local Municipality.
  • Positioning of the 6 naturalistic-informative panels.