The Puntacana Ecological Foundation is inviting to a workshop on the best practices for the restoration of elkhorn and staghorn coral in Punta Cana. The activity will take place Friday 11 April to Sunday, 13 April at Salon Yauya of the Westin Puntacana Resort & Club. It is being held to create awareness among locals, tourism industry employees, and tourists on the importance of conserving reefs and restoring Acropora coral. Guides will be trained to give coral reef snorkeling tours to tourists to promote coral gardening as a tourist attraction. Austin Bowden-Kerby, pioneer in the world of coral gardening in the Caribbean, and consultant to the Foundation, will be heading the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to transfer the knowledge accumulated in Punta Cana to other regions in the country. Punta Cana Ecological Foundation has collaborated with nine coral gardening projects nationwide.
We seek to involve and create awareness among groups interested in sustainable management and conservation of coral reefs to improve the livelihoods of fishermen and the tourism sector not only in Punta Cana but all over the country, said Jake Kheel, director of the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation.
The Foundation signed an agreement with the University of Miami and Counterpart International in 2004 to promote the coral gardens concept. And in 2012, the Foundation received funding from the IDB to educate the local population in coral gardening. As a result, the coral gardens of Punta Cana are the largest in the country.
For more information, write to Jake Kheel at jkheel@puntacana.com or see http://www.puntacana.com/sustainable-development.html