A Place Unknown

Blue Ventures Timor-Leste is incredibly unique in that they are the only, to my knowledge and at the time of my expedition number 5, research based diving program on the island of Ataúro, Timor-Leste (named the most marine biodiverse place on the planet by Conservation International). The diving and volunteer training programs in Benthic, and Fish species are detailed enough to get you really excited about the research being done but also enough of an overview that you have the last two weeks to assist with the research. Unfortunately because you must be trained on site, you need at least two expeditions on site to have a significant contribution to the wealth of data being collected on the marine and seagrass habitats. The program is still in its developing stages which makes it possible for the volunteers to have a stronger impact in shaping the goals of their projects. I hope Blue Ventures recognizes this potential and does more than just "listen" to volunteers ideas but also implement them if they think they would be effective. Lastly I will share the most incredible part of my experience that encapsulates what I believe to make Blue Ventures work so important. The people of Ataúro, especially in the mountains, are mainly subsistence farmers and fishermen/women, with any surplus sold in Beloi or Vila (two local villages) market on Saturdays. The locals had net and spearfished for as long as they can remember as a means of livelihood. These livelihoods are now being threatened by international problems like global warming, and coral bleaching related to this and destructive fishing practices. Blue Ventures was trying to establish and educate on LMMA (Locally Managed Marine Areas) and FADs (Fish Aggregation Devices) that would help re-establish and make more abundant local fish stocks. Also stressed was the importance of seagrass as a nursery ground for all young fish before moving into the coral reef environment. A big part of BV's mission seems to be involving locals and while I was there they had an idea to employ and train local seagrass monitors from the surrounding village to help determine total seagrass cover and types of seagrass which can be correlated with fish health and degradation can be measured over time. Locals were guarded at first but once BV's Timorese dive staff started explaining the concept people seemed eager to sign up. Soon about 20 signatures of people from both sides of the small 25km island had been collected. When we were about to close up our stall a deaf man came up and couldn't express himself in words but seemed interested. Again the local dive staff explained the idea and he couldn't have been quicker to sign up! It was amazing to see the unity between "Malae" (Tetum word for foreigner and) and locals on issues of conservation and the opportunities that were beginning to develop in a globally under-recognized field. I would recommend this trip for anyone interested in research diving, and learning the history of the third most recently independent country in the world.