Driving positive change during challenging times:
A message from our CEO.
Time has a strange way of moving incredibly fast, yet just a few years can also seem like an eternity. When I reflect over the past eight years, I can’t believe how far Positive Change for Marine Life has come, and the incredible journey and transformation that we’ve undertaken.
I remember back to our humble beginnings when I was a marine science student who wanted to make a difference. I never could have imagined that eight years later Positive Change for Marine Life would have grown to where we are today. I'm so proud of our incredible team, the thousands of volunteers who have driven our work, as well as our financial supporters who believe in us and, as a result, have enabled us to drive long-term outcomes for the ocean and struggling communities on an international level.
The formation of Positive Change for Marine Life stemmed from our work in Taiji, Japan in 2011 and 2012.
Now CEO, Karl Goodsell, organised a Japan-focused event to engage local people in solutions to the dolphin hunting industry.
The event attracted regional media to the issues and potential solutions in the region.
Despite the chaos that the outbreak of COVID-19 wreaked upon humanity around the world, as well as the many challenges that our work faced as a result, 2020 saw us once again achieve consistent growth across the organisation.
Our Global Programs in India continued to reach exciting milestones and saw our community-led household Waste Collection Service expand to over 120 local households and businesses in one of the poorest and most densely populated coastal regions in the country. Our successful Leave No Trace program also engaged vendors across the region, leading to an estimated reduction of at least 10,000 pieces of plastic and polystyrene from making their way to the ocean every month - based upon our extensive and targeted data collection during the years prior.
In addition to these exciting achievements, two of our most notable milestones in India came from our successful lobbying efforts for a single-use plastic ban, which came into effect across the state of Kerala from January 1, 2020. We were also honoured to be selected by the United Nations Habitat team as one of the world’s Top 20 Waste to Wealth Projects (from 230 international projects)!
Our team in India was awarded as one of the world’s Top 20 Waste to Wealth projects (from 230 international projects).
Our Areca Leaf plastic transition program eliminates an estimated 10,000 pieces of plastic from the ocean every month!
In Australia, our River Warriors program released the first State of Marine Debris and Marine Debris Report Cards for the Brunswick River and Tingalpa Creek, highlighting the ongoing challenges that human waste is having on waterways, as well as source-based solutions to combat them. Our partnership with Byron Shire Council saw our Butt Free Byron project also win acclaim, chosen for an Environmental Sustainability Award by the NSW Environmental Protection Agency, the project to date has reduced smoking-related litter in the Shire by almost 80%! We were honoured to also secure funding to take the project to the Tweed, with our Butt Free Tweed program kicking-off earlier this month in the region.
Our Butt Free Byron campaign, in collaboration with Byron Shire Council and a range of local partners, received acclaim through an Environmental Sustainability award.
Our River Warriors community surveys collected over 7,000 pieces of debris from the Brunswick River in northern NSW.
At our Annual General Meeting last week we released our Annual Report, providing insight into all of our campaigns, as well as the workshops, conferences, partnerships and events that our team has facilitated, presented at and contributed to during the 2019/20 financial year. The full report and financials will be released on our website in mid-January next year so please stay tuned for updates.
As our planet faces unprecedented challenges as a result of anthropogenic warming, overfishing, short-sighted development and pollution it’s easy to become overwhelmed at the declining state of our ocean. Despite this, there are countless examples of organisations, businesses, communities and individuals taking a stand and utilising their ingenuity and existing resources to address these challenges and turn the tide on ocean exploitation.
As another year rolls on, I’m excited to see Positive Change for Marine Life continually take steps forward to contribute towards addressing these global challenges - creating opportunities for struggling communities, whilst reducing their impact on the ocean.
Painting some of the first strokes of our marine mural in the coastal village of Vizhinjam, southern India.
Despite the many challenges that we face, our reach and growth haven’t waivered. For me, this reflects the depth of the work that we undertake and the incredible people who drive it, people like you!
Thanks so much for your ongoing support.
Karl Goodsell
Co-Founder and CEO
Tagged: 2020, Honour the Ocean, River Warriors, 2020 Wrap Up, Celebrating Success, Message from CEO, PCFML, non-profit-organisation