On 27 February through 1 March, I represented the PADI organization and the PADI AWARE Foundation at the 10th annual World Ocean Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Hosted by The Economist, more than 1,500 of the world’s top experts and stakeholders from 100+ countries in the fields of academia, the marine science community, government, tourism, technology, energy, finance, entrepreneurial, banking, NGO and economics gathered to discuss the ocean’s future – where it is headed, what to do about it, what’s working and what’s not. The fact that PADI and the PADI AWARE Foundation were invited points to a growing recognition that PADI Professionals serve a unique role as mission hubs in solving ocean challenges locally and internationally.
During my talk, I elevated PADI’s global scope, mission and vision, with an emphasis on how 6,600 Mission Hubs – PADI Dive Centers and Resorts – 128,000 PADI Professionals and 29 million PADI Divers were uniting though the Blueprint for Ocean Action, PADI AWARE Foundation support and other citizen-science and ocean-action initiatives (e.g., Adopt the Blue, Shark Conservation, and Dive Against Debris) and already making a measurable difference. Discussions also covered PADI’s strategic partnerships with Scripps Institute, Blancpain, Sea Legacy, SEIKO, National Geographic Pristine Seas and other like-minded entities. Our global reach is unique in offering local action for scalable global changes through PADI-Member initiatives in the five blueprint buckets: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), coral restoration and conservation, marine debris, threatened and endangered marine species, and blue carbon.
Central to my comments and interactions was diving’s role as a positive force in the blue (ocean sustaining) economy. The following points were made and presented to The Economist summit:
- A Scripps/National Geographic Pristine Seas global survey (supported by PADI) found that dive operators support thousands of blue economy dive- and dive-tourism-related jobs. Many of these are in smaller coastal communities and developing countries where they are a major, or the major economic engine supporting hundreds of people. That PADI operators create sizable local tourism economies provides an economic incentive to create and increase the number of MPAs globally. Doing so ensures they remain vibrant and continue to attract sustainable and regenerative dive tourism locally.
- To allow species regrowth and recovery, the goal is to set aside about 30 percent of the ocean as protected MPAs. At present, about six percent of the world’s national jurisdiction oceans (non-international waters) are protected. Diving is a non-extractive activity that benefits from and brings the public in contact with MPAs. Raising public awareness of diving’s economic power can help drive MPA expansion by showing governments, communities, industry and other entities that preserved and/or restored pristine marine environments produce significant direct economic returns.
- Research is pivotal to understanding ocean problems, and there were many studies and constructive programs presented at the Summit. The PADI global dive community is actively engaged and moving forward as I write this. We aren’t just talking about it; dive operations and divers willingly engage in data gathering, community outreach, cleanups, coral planting and other citizen-science, education and restoration efforts. The PADI network’s size and global scope increasingly enables local research and global action that might otherwise be impractical.
One of the most important points made at the summit was why PADI Members and Divers are action oriented and take initiative. It’s because we share a belief thatthere is always a solution. This isn’t a minor point – hopelessness causes inaction. But PADI Professionals and Divers know that while there’s a lot to do yet, positive change is already happening. And it is happening because you and the global PADI community find, join and create solutions, and put them into constructive and meaningful action.
Some top-line examples, through PADI AWARE Foundation and PADI Pro-led initiatives, PADI Members and Divers have implemented more than half a million discrete ocean actions. These include protecting more than 100 shark species, removing and documenting tons of ocean debris, and rescuing more than13,500 entangled animals. To date, PADI Mission Hubs and Eco Center Members, through Adopt the Blue, have adopted more than 1,000 dive sites for monitoring and preservation, with 10,000 the goal over the next few years. The PADI AWARE Foundation’s grant program has funded more than 200 local conservation projects directly related to the PADI Blueprint for Ocean Action.
By seeing and putting in motion solutions on behalf of the ocean and on behalf of people and humanity, PADI is leveraging the dive community’s united passion into a positive force that is powerful and important. As a PADI Member and Diver, you are literally reshaping the seas for the better. Exploration, quality diver training and ocean health are the bedrock of our collective future together.
Seek adventure. Save the ocean.
Drew Richardson
President & CEO
