Mission

Seacology protects island habitats and assists local communities by offering villages a unique deal: if they agree to create a forest or marine reserve, we'll provide funds for something the village needs, like a schoolhouse or health clinic. Since 1991, we've launched over 300 projects, working with villages on islands in over 60 countries, helping to protect approximately 1.3 million acres of some of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems.

What We Do

At Seacology, we believe that environmental issues are human issues, too. By providing a benefit in exchange for the creation of a nature reserve, we ensure that the reserve works in everyone's interests. Examples include:

* Macolline Reserve, Madagascar: Protection of 25-acre rainforest preserve for 30 years and environmental education in exchange for repairs to cyclone-damaged structures in nature reserve.
* Nabubu Village, Fiji: 100-acre no-take zone and 500-acre rainforest reserve for 15 years in exchange for renovation of school and teachers quarters, water tanks, and a solar power system.
* Oviedo Lagoon, Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic: Community patrol and monitoring within Jaragua National Park in exchange for eco-tourism training and infrastructure.

In addition, in 2015, we launched the largest project in our history, helping Sri Lanka become the first nation in the world to comprehensively protect all of its mangrove forests. In exchange, we are providing livelihood training and microloans to 13,000 impoverished women who live adjacent to the mangrove forests and who have committed to protecting and replanting the mangroves in their communities.

Over the years, Seacology's work has been recognized through numerous awards, including the "Achievement in Innovation Award" from the California Association of Nonprofits, the "Global Vision Award" by Travel+Leisure Magazine, and the "Prince's Prize for Innovative Nonprofits" by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Tocqueville Foundation. In addition, in 2014, Seacology's work was featured in the book Cases in Innovative Nonprofits: Organizations that Make a Difference, by Stanford University scholar, Bruce Sievers. In 2018, we were awarded a United Nations "Momentum for Change" climate change award for our mangrove conservation project in Sri Lanka.