Progress report for
Promote, sustainably use, and protect kadalamma-the Mother Sea-with indigenous fisherfolk
Achievement at a glance
Capacity building of coastal community through SCUBA Diving by Friends of Marine Life (FML) in India<br>Hailing from fishing community, we realized that indigenous community has tremendous knowledge and skills to intervene in the sea at any condition. To study the problems looming the ocean, it is very essential to experience the underwater realm. SCUBA diving is a promising skill which can be used in seabed studies, conservation activities, ocean literacy programs and in rescue operations as well. As a part of this we recently conducted SCUBA diving training for selected 10 members from the fishing community. In the context of the recent cyclone disaster - Ockhi - the larger section of society has come to realize that the indigenous fishing community is best suited for marine rescue operations in the most harsh and unfavorable conditions at sea. So, we thought that further level of training would definitely help the coastal community to strengthen our Disaster Management system in future. Thus we provided further SCUBA Diving training which includes marine rescue operations and Emergency First Response (EFR) training. Upon successful completion of training, the trainees were awarded an international scuba diving license (PADI). All 10 members have successfully completed the Rescue diver course. With a long term vision to make such disaster rescue operations efficient and fool proof, FML intends to build the capacity of this indigenous fishing community as a novel initiative.
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