The Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea is an area of exceptional biological importance and an attractive tourist destination. The conservation status of this coast and submarine needs to be maintained and improved, but there are many threats to the conservation of biological and landscape diversity – intensive tourism, illegal construction, pollution, ignorance. For several years now, the Society has been advocating and working intensively together with several organizations to establish a research and education center on the island of Silba, which would conduct various biological and environmental research and education for Croatian and foreign students. In coastal areas, the sea is the basis of life, so it is responsible for the “coexistence” of man and the sea is extremely necessary. In order for this “cooperation” to be long, high quality and sustainable, it is necessary to bring man closer to the sea, but at the level of respect that the marine environment and the sea, as a key part of everyday life, need to be known, protected, preserved and used sustainably. To achieve this goal, educational tools and aids are needed.
Educational aid – educational diving booklet whose production and creation is the main activity of this project is adapted for use by the general public, ordinary citizens, nature and sea lovers. Especially high school and college students; because without practical work, most of the knowledge acquired through lectures and school quickly falls into oblivion. The content of the diving booklet is infralittoral species and it contains important marine species that we encounter every time we approach and / or enter the sea – algae, plants and animals with their sketches and photographs, important characteristics and names (Croatian, Latin and English).
But in order for the booklet to be tailored to the young people who will be its users in the future, we first needed to find out exactly what they think they need – so we focused on the field first!
Our young participants spent a few days on the island of Silba with members of the Marine Explorers Society 20000 Leagues. There, with supervision, guidance and counseling, they dived (with a snorkel and SCUBA) and thus collected data (photo documentation, video documentation…) for the production of educational aids “to their liking”. In addition, each evening there was a part of a short course consisting of interactive lectures where they got better acquainted with the biodiversity of the seabed – the topics of the lecture were: species and habitats, research methods, threats and threats, marine protected areas). The organization, selection and creation of the contents of the booklet influenced not only the biological knowledge but also in the field of strengthening the communication and organizational skills of our participants. Project product – educational aid was created printed and presented in the Society’s premises and of course tested in the field at the first opportunity.
It has been shown many times that we value and respect and cherish more – what we know. Therefore, this educational aid of a diving booklet with important marine species will make learning easier and make every diving and snorkeling fun and more interesting to put this practice into practice. Also, the manual will provide a basis for the inclusion of young people, students and pupils in the so-called. “Citizen science” programs (citizens who collect data valuable for science), and introduce them to interesting volunteering practices for the purpose of protecting nature and the environment. Through all these activities, participants will gain a wealth of knowledge and skills in the future to help them choose a career or look for a job. And we keep figuring that some of the participants in our project, encouraged by these activities, decide to go the biologist way!
If you also want to have this booklet, contact us at info@drustvo20000milja.hr and you can get a little better acquainted with the species you can meet during the summer joys! And you can download it for free below!
This project is co-financed with the support of the City of Zadar. The contents are the sole responsibility of the Marine Explorers Society 20000 Leagues and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the City of Zadar. And the project was implemented in partnership with Aurelia and Deep Blue Explorers!
Marine Explorers Society 20.000 leagues gathers ambitious, comprehensive and creative researchers whose primary interest is marine biology. Members of the Society have wide and professional experience in organizing and carrying out various projects.
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