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Roy M · 20-02-2017, 08:55

I recently learned of a group called Seacology (Seacology | Conservation organization preserving island environments and cultures) that is a non-governmental organization specializing in helping islanders throughout the world to protect local natural resources without losing control to outside agencies.

It was established a couple years ago by Paul Alan Cox, a well-respected ethnobotanist, famous among medical researchers for his research and discovery of plant-based medicines combating HIV, ALS, Alzheimers, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases.

They have worked directly with island communities to obtain financial resources, technical assistance and greater awareness of how folks like us can get more involved in protecting really cool places from being destroyed by loggers, developers and other folks more interested in making a personal profit at the expense of wilderness.

I'm curious as to how others may know of their activities. Anybody heard anything about them? Seacology has had projects in Fiji, Samoa, Madagascar, and many other locales we cruisers might come into contact with.

**Don C L** · 20-02-2017, 09:46

Thanks for the heads-up, I had not heard of them. I'm going to read up on them. And in addition to the exploitation, in the next 20 or 30 years (or less?), many island communities will be underwater and will need to move.

DeepFrz · 21-02-2017, 07:59

Thanks for introducing this organization to the cruising community.

**boatman61** · 21-02-2017, 08:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don C L

Thanks for the heads-up, I had not heard of them. I'm going to read up on them. And in addition to the exploitation, in the next 20 or 30 years (or less?), many island communities will be underwater and will need to move.

Wish I'd be around to see if your right.. and go 'Naah, Naah Nahnahh..!!' if your wrong.. along with all the others..

Notice the Chinese aren't building extra tall islands in the South China Sea..

barnakiel · 21-02-2017, 08:38

The main problem is that we are maybe 0.01 of a percent of the population.

Meanwhile, the remaining 99.99 of the population drives the changes.

Not to kill your joy. Simply an observation.

Without government driven action, backed up by armies, economies and medias, we cannot 'save' any part of the world.

Probably the best thing a sailor can do to protect a remote community is NOT to sail to there.

Even then, we cannot reasonably expect remote communities to keep their environment a nature reserve and their culture a theme park for the rich of the world. These people are free to chose and they too will chose progress and development. (= destruction to their nature and deep change of their culture).

Just look at what happened in San Blas. Do not tell me cruisers and sailors did not add to that.

barnakiel

canyonbat · 21-02-2017, 09:07

I suspect this thread will quickly be relegated to the "time-out" bin but I just had to wonder. As sailors and cruisers we all rely on daily, weekly and longer term forecasts. We understand that they aren't always right but we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Yet, when the same people tell us that they are looking farther out and see a potential problem, so many of us brush it off as political propaganda. Probably not a good strategy unless, of course, you don't plan on being around long enough to suffer from the results of inaction.

I will also review the above organization and make a decision as to whether they deserve some of our annual charity donations.

Roy M · 21-02-2017, 09:15

barnakiel, I respect your opinion. I suspect, however, you haven't actually visited the site and become better informed of the nature of the completed projects. This organization, unlike most, operates bottom-up rather than top-down. The locals play a direct role in determining needs and solutions. Dr. Jared Diamond, author of GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL, and several other interesting books on human progress and development, is one of the participants in Seacology. He has a special understanding of human tendencies to turn Paradise into a parking lot. Perhaps it might be more useful to the discussion to explore before condemning.

barnakiel · 21-02-2017, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy M

barnakiel, I respect your opinion. I suspect, however, you haven't actually visited the site and become better informed of the nature of the completed projects. This organization, unlike most, operates bottom-up rather than top-down. The locals play a direct role in determining needs and solutions. Dr. Jared Diamond, author of GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL, and several other interesting books on human progress and development, is one of the participants in Seacology. He has a special understanding of human tendencies to turn Paradise into a parking lot. Perhaps it might be more useful to the discussion to explore before condemning.

Roy,

I have earmarked the site right now and will dig deeper in a few minutes. I will be back if I find my (in fact: early) opinion was inadequate.

Big hug,
barnakiel

canyonbat · 21-02-2017, 09:40

Just did a quick review on my go to sight for charities, Charity Navigator.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ind...ary&orgid=6592

Not a bad score. CEO compensation a little high for a charity of their size but not outrageous ($180K). Fund raising expenses are high as well. 73% of funds raised go into programs. Good but not great. 85% is the bar for top rating. Might be an issue with the far flung aspect of the charity and its size. We have donated to worse.

**JPA Cate** · 21-02-2017, 13:48

Barnakiel wrote, "Probably the best thing a sailor can do to protect a remote community is NOT to sail to there." There's some truth to that.

Much of the aid we've seen in the Pacific has not been well thought out, and we've seen a lot of the white men deciding what the brown men *should have*. Honestly, if Seacology is working with requests from the locals, rather than setting them up to request what the organization wants to do, then, good on them! If their notions are carefully considered (for instance, if based on hydro schemes, making sure the training is in place and the ability to generate cash - for repairs - along with electricity), as well as being what the locals want, then that might make them worthy of support. It depends on how well they're doing what they say they're doing.

I think the days of just leaving them alone are so long gone that our visiting them does little harm, and some, minor benefits. I'll never forget having 4 women from a small village in Fiji aboard our 36 footer, and what they were most interested in was that we had a toilet, a gas cooker, and water plumbed into the galley. I saw how wealthy I was in their eyes. Quite an experience. Seeing how we live raises their expectations, just like seeing I was allowed to bring them out in our dinghy without a man to chaperone. That in our culture, women were allowed to be boat drivers. Everywhere we go, by our behavior, we may upset local values, and mainly, it raises expectations that are very difficult for tribal societies to meet.

I'd love to sit down with Jared Diamond, and chat about it. The issues are many-faceted, extremely complex.

I'd also like to thank canyonbat, who wrote about how you can check out charities and NGO's efficiency. That was EXCELLENT! Charity navigator.

Ann

Roy M · 21-02-2017, 14:14

Ann, Jared Diamond based his first book, GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL, on a chance encounter he once had with a New Guinea highlander, who asked Diamond a seemingly innocuous question: "Why is it you white people have all the power and resources?". Diamond was unable to respond, caught up in all the elements at play. That book led me to his others dealing with how civilizations rise from simple beginnings, reach their apex, then collapse. He drives some establishment folks nuts, but still communicates powerful messages to them at the same time (Why Does Jared Diamond Make Anthropologists So Mad? : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR). He works with Seacology, not for them. The guy who created it is Paul Alan Cox, a guy I'd really like to sit and talk with for hours. He is low key, speaks to people, not at them, and has a wonderful world view, and does world class research on combatting ALS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Check him out on Google and YouTube. It will be a very pleasant experience for you.

**JPA Cate** · 21-02-2017, 17:22

Roy M, Yes, thanks for the link. We should probably continue the Jared Diamond discussion via regular e-mail, not CF; though I confess having read Tim Flannery's The Future Eaters, then Diamond's Guns, Germs, & Steel, followed by Collapse, did have an effect on what I learned about and shared in So. Pacific cultures....but so did an early interest in anthro and psychology.

Ann

Aaarrgh · 21-02-2017, 18:16

"No Comment"

Wait!

I did hear, recently, a comment from someone who seemed to be "educated well beyond his intellegence", that you could actually overload an island with so many humans that it would actually sink.

"I'm just sayin'!"

Aarrrgh!

**StuM** · 21-02-2017, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaarrgh

"No Comment"

Wait!

I did hear, recently, a comment from someone who seemed to be "educated well beyond his intellegence", that you could actually overload an island with so many humans that it would actually sink.

"I'm just sayin'!"

Aarrrgh!

Nope! Islands are like cats, they don't sink, they capsize

Hank Johnson (US politician):
"My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,"