Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.1.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site.

# The Dive Tourist, saving our coral reefs, one dive at a time

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://thedivetourist.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [livelihoods for local fishers decrease destructive fishing](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods-for-local-fishers-stops-destructive-fishing/) - Oslob Whale Sharks. Korean tourists snorkel and bob out of arms reach of a whale shark, feeding below. A dive and snorkel business owned by a 178 local fishermen, who no longer fish. #Oslob #Livelihoodsfromdivetourism #localfishers #conservationofwhalesharks #reducingdestructivefishing
- [Local fishers ask divers for help protecting coral reefs](https://thedivetourist.com/traditional-marine-tenure-protects-coral-reefs/) - Eduard and his family have been protecting the coral reefs and fisheries around their tiny volcanic island home in the Banda Sea for generations. A little hand painted wooden sign on prohibits bom fishing and shark finning. Eduard's community welcomes divers and they ask for help stopping bom fishing and shark finning by fishers from
- [Oslob Whale Sharks: bright spot in community based dive tourism](https://thedivetourist.com/oslob-whale-sharks-bright-spot-in-dive-tourism/) - Field work blog - Post 1 Finally! Departed Cebu in the Philippines, on a big yellow bus to start field work at the highly controversial Oslob Whale Sharks. Oslob is a community based dive tourism operation, where local fishers paddle tourists out on small banca (unmotorised outrigger canoes) to watch, snorkel or dive with whale
- [Oslob Whale Sharks: bright spot in community based dive tourism](https://thedivetourist.com/oslob-whale-sharks-bright-spot-in-dive-tourism-2/) - Field work blog - Post 2 Up with the dawn. Dive tourists from all over the world and around the Philippines, take selfies before being paddled out by the local fisherman's cooperative to snorkel, swim with or watch whale sharks from banca (traditional, unmotorised outrigger canoes). With a 393% increase in visitor numbers from 2012 when
- [Oslob Whale Sharks: bright spot in community based dive tourism](https://thedivetourist.com/oslob-whale-sharks-bright-spot-in-dive-tourism-3/) - Field work blog - Post 3 Fishermen paddle dive tourists in small, unmotorised banca (outrigger canoes) out to snorkel with whale sharks in barangay Tan-Awan, Oslob, on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. Divers enter from the shore. Whale sharks have been following and bumping fisher's banca in Tan-Awan for generations. Fishers would throw
- [84% of dive operators in tropics have dive sties in marine protected areas](https://thedivetourist.com/84-of-dive-sites-in-tropics-are-in-marine-protected-areas/) - 84% of dive operators in the tropics report that they have dive sites located within marine protected areas (MPAs). This is no surprise because MPAs are designed to protect the coral reefs, fish stocks, marine resources and threatened species we love to dive with. Dive operators benefit financially from healthy coral reefs, fish stocks and
- [Oslob: Bubbles, baby!](https://thedivetourist.com/oslob-bubbles-baby/) - Field work blog - Post 4 Bubbles = divers below. Photographic imperfection meets dive tourist Heaven (taken by a failed underwater photographer on field work, who is much better at research. Big smile). A young whale shark moves below a feeder banca. See that cloud of fish? Local fishermen at Tan-Awan say whale sharks bring
- [Research starts at dawn](https://thedivetourist.com/research-starts-at-dawn/) - Field work blog - Post 5 Marine biologist Ma. May Saludsod watches Oslob fishers survey weather and tide conditions before launching their small banca (traditional outrigger canoes), for morning fishing. Armed only with a small gill net, a bucket of line and hooks and a paddle. Catch on a good day? About US$3.20.
- [Local fishers of Oslob](https://thedivetourist.com/local-fishers-of-oslob/) - Field work blog - Post 6 A local fisher heads out at dawn with his traditional banca with simple fishing gear - a gill net and hook and line. Oslob, the Philippines. Catch on a good day? About US$2. Not every day. Only about 8 months of the year because of typhoons and rough seas.
- [Turtles as food](https://thedivetourist.com/1417-2/) - Raja Ampat. Scrubbing algae off the shells of captive turtles, caged until they grow to eating size, then sold. A common sight water villages. Taking turtles is illegal but overlooked.
- [The Conversation - Oslob Whale Sharks and Conservation](https://thedivetourist.com/the-conversation-oslob-whale-sharks-and-conservation/) - Our article in The Conversation, covering the release of our new research paper on the conservation effects of Oslob Whale Sharks. A group of the world’s poorest fishermen are protecting endangered whale sharks from being finned alive at Oslob in the Philippines. The fishermen have stopped fishing and turned to tourism, feeding whale sharks tiny amounts of krill to
- [The Guardian reports on our Oslob research](https://thedivetourist.com/the-guardian-reports-on-oslob-research/) - The Guardian - Oslob Whale Sharks and livelihoods Fishermen-turned-entrepreneurs who have been financing the protection of endangered whale sharks in the Philippines have hit on a successful scheme to help lift their coastal community out of poverty, new research has found. A group of 58 fishermen from the town of Oslob who were struggling to feed their
- [local fishers live in poverty](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods-for-local-fishers/) - Heading out to fish at dawn. A local fisher drags his banca across the mudflats, to fish for small mackerel and flying fish. Using his fine gauge net, caught less than a kilo of fish. Enough for the table but not enough to sell.
- [research award – International Coral Reef Symposium, Hawaii June 2016](https://thedivetourist.com/research-award-international-coral-reef-symposium-hawaii-june-2016/) - PhD candidate Judi Lowe was awarded Best PhD Student Presentation at the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii. Judi’s thesis is ‘dive tourism and its impact on integrated costal management and livelihoods for artisanal fishers’. Held every four years, ICRS is sanctioned by the International Society for Reef Studies and is the primary international

## Pages

- [Home](https://thedivetourist.com/) - The dive tourist is an enlightened traveller who pays more than lip service to the concept of best practice dive tourism and wants to take it one step further by ensuring their tourism dive dollar makes a difference to the conservation of coral reefs and marine life and the lives of local fishers.
- [Survey](https://thedivetourist.com/research/survey/) - The survey A comprehensive quantitative online survey was distributed to land based dive tourism operators in the 112 less developed countries and territories of the tropics, around the equator. The survey asked dive tourism operators a range of questions, including; what they do now to conserve coral reefs and marine resources and provide livelihoods to
- [Bright Spots](https://thedivetourist.com/research/bright-spots/) - What are bright spots? Bright spots are members of a population who are doing things better than everyone else. In statistics, outliers are positively deviant data points that are a long way from the rest of the population. They are significantly different. In analysis, these outliers are sometimes excluded from data sets. Positively deviant outliers are
- [What all this means](https://thedivetourist.com/best-practice/what-all-this-means/) - The dive tourist's research uses the most widely accepted model for the conservation of coral reefs, integrated coastal management, to solve the problems of conserving coral reefs and reducing destructive fishing around dive sites (many of which are in marine protected areas) faced by dive operators all over the tropical world. How do you conserve
- [Who are local fishers?](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/who-are-local-fishers/) - For the purposes of this research, local fishers are defined as fishers belonging to communities which are neighbours to a dive operation. Local fishers and communities are those who traditionally fish the areas surrounding a dive operators’ dive sites. That might mean right next door to a dive operation, many kilometres/miles away, up the coast,
- [Why are local fishers important to coral reefs?](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/why-are-local-fishers-important-to-coral-reefs/) - Local fishers and their communities live in poverty on the fringing coral reefs of the tropics, relying on coral reefs and marine resources for food and income security. Their direct reliance on coral reefs makes the future of coral reefs and local fishers is inseparable. Coral reefs and marine resources are under threat from industrialised
- [What are livelihoods?](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/what-are-livelihoods/) - Dive tourists are attracted to healthy coral reefs and marine resources. Dive operators often close off areas of coral reef as house reefs or no-take zones, restricting the access of fishers and communities and threatening livelihoods. Poverty reduction is a commonly accepted indicator of sustainable development, generally addressed through benefits derived from improving
- [Why are livelihoods for local fishers important to dive tourism?](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/why-are-livelihoods-for-local-fishers-important-to-dive-tourism/) - Dive tourism relies on healthy coral reefs and marine resources for business. Dive tourist want to dive on beautiful and biodiverse coral reefs, flourishing with fish, marine life, macro life and mega fauna, including sharks, whales sharks, manta rays, turtle, whales and dugongs and are prepared to pay more to see them. It makes business
- [What is traditional marine tenure?](https://thedivetourist.com/traditional-marine-tenure/what-is-traditional-marine-tenure/) - Traditional marine tenure exists where fishers and their communities living along the shores of coral reefs, traditionally hold rights, recognised by other communities, to fish and use marine resources below the high tide mark. Rarely recognised at law, especially after many of these countries were colonised, traditional marine tenure is central to governing coral reefs
- [What is dive tourism?](https://thedivetourist.com/dive-tourism/what-is-dive-tourism/) - Dive tourism has been defined as individuals traveling from their usual place of residence, spending at least one night away and actively participating in one or more activities, including scuba diving, snorkelling, snuba or the use of rebreathing apparatus (Garrod and Gossling, 2008).
- [Location](https://thedivetourist.com/dive-tourism/location/) - Dive tourism is ubiquitous, focused on coral reefs and often co-located in or near the marine protected areas or the tropics. The most recent information in the scientific literature tells us that there are about 2,500 dive centres in 91 countries around the world. Source: Spalding, Ravilious and Green, 2001 Anecdotally however, we
- [Negative impacts of dive tourism](https://thedivetourist.com/dive-tourism/negative-impacts-of-dive-tourism/) - The scientific literature is full of research on the negative impacts of dive tourism on coral reefs and marine resources. Dive tourism can negatively impact the biophysical conditions of coral reefs, including; the condition of coral, the abundance and diversity fish and marine life; water quality; stakeholder engagement in decision making; economic returns and livelihoods;
- [Positive impacts of dive tourism](https://thedivetourist.com/dive-tourism/positive-impacts-of-dive-tourism/) - The scientific literature shows that dive tourism can do things to positively impact the physical condition of coral reefs; provide economic returns for conservation and livelihoods; improve the local capacity for law enforcement; act as private sector conservation agents and educate divers on the importance of conservation. © Judi Lowe, 2015 The word cloud
- [Dive Tourism](https://thedivetourist.com/dive-tourism/) - What is dive tourism? Dive tourism has been defined as individuals traveling from their usual place of residence, spending at least one night away and actively participating in one or more activities, including scuba diving, snorkelling, snuba or the use of rebreathing apparatus (Garrod and Gossling, 2008). These days, we would include free diving in
- [Location](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/location/) - Distributed in 101 countries and territories, 75% of coral reefs are located in the world’s poorest nations, roughly around the equator, confined to the tropics. The same locations are home to the majority of people who depend on coral reef ecosystems for food and income security (Source: Donner and Potere, 2007).
- [Threats](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/threats/) - The coral reefs of the tropics are being rapidly degraded by anthropogenic threats, including climate change, unsustainable coastal development, land sourced pollution, extractive uses, population growth and overfishing. Of these, destructive fishing and overfishing is the most pressing threat of all. Industrialised overfishing removes fish from the high seas and economic exclusion zones and coastal
- [Integrated coastal management](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/integrated-coastal-management/) - The ten factors necessary for the integrated coastal management of coral reefs, and the role of dive tourism Adapted from White, Christie, Agnes, Lowry and Milne (2005) © Judi Lowe, 2015 What is integrated coastal management? The factors necessary for sustainable Integrated coastal management, developed by White, Christie, Agnes, Lowry and Milne in 2005, are
- [Why is integrated coastal management a good framework?](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/why-is-integrated-coastal-management-a-good-framework/) - Integrated coastal management is a good framework for the management of coral reefs in the tropics because it; builds a framework of factors necessary for sustainable management, based on the success and failure of major coral reef conservation projects, recognises that to be sustainable, coral reef conservation projects must include the social, economic and environmental
- [The Coral Triangle](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/the-coral-triangle/) - The Coral Triangle, centered on the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands, has the most bio-diverse coral reefs in the world, with between 500 and 600 species of coral in each country. Coral Triangle is globally recognised as the epi-centre of marine biodiversity on the planet. With more than
- [What has dive tourism got to do with all this?](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/what-has-dive-tourism-got-to-do-with-all-this/) - It is thought by many that the conservation of coral reefs is the responsibility of government, not the private sector. Governments, however, are often stretched, failing to protect coral reefs. Marine protected areas become simply ‘paper parks’. Coral reefs die under dynamite and cyanide fishing. Fish stocks are diminished by the live reef fish trade,
- [Destructive fishing](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/destructive-fishing-and-over-fishing/) - Destructive fishing is one of the most pressing threat to the coral reefs of the tropics. In response to competition for scarce coral reef resources, local fishers resort to destructive fishing, increasing the use of competitive and destructive gear and intensifying pressure on coral reefs, with devastating effect. Coral reefs habitats are destroyed by dynamite
- [Coral Reefs](https://thedivetourist.com/coral-reefs/) - Seventy five per cent of coral reefs are located in the world’s poorest nations, between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. The majority of the world’s dive tourism is centred on the same locations, which are home to fishers and their communities, who depend on coral reefs for income and food security. Figure 1 by Donner and
- [Who is the dive tourist?](https://thedivetourist.com/the-dive-tourist/who-is-the-dive-tourist/) - The dive tourist is any diver, free diver or snorkeler who loves to travel and cares about protecting the coral reefs, fish, sharks, whale sharks, whales, manta rays, turtles and macro life we so love to dive with. The dive tourist is an enlightened traveller who pays more than lip service to the concept
- [What does the dive tourist care about?](https://thedivetourist.com/the-dive-tourist/what-does-the-dive-tourist-care-about/) - The dive tourist cares about the condition of coral reefs and the marine biodiversity that surrounds them. The dive tourist wants to see beautiful, healthy coral reefs, schooling fish, sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, whales, dolphins and dugongs and all the macro life that makes diving in the tropics such a wonderful, life changing
- [Judi's Research](https://thedivetourist.com/the-dive-tourist/judis-research/) - Judi’s research investigates dive tourism and its impact on integrated coastal management and livelihoods for artisanal fishers. Integrated coastal management is a widely accepted model for conserving coral reefs and coastal areas which takes into account all of the factors needed for marine conservation to be socially, environmentally and economically successful. When we talk about
- [about the dive tourist](https://thedivetourist.com/the-dive-tourist/about-the-dive-tourist/) - The dive tourist communicates coral reef science. This site is designed to set out Judi Lowe's PhD research on; dive tourism and its impact on integrated coastal management, and livelihoods for artisanal fishers. Please explore...
- [about Judi Lowe](https://thedivetourist.com/the-dive-tourist/about-judi-lowe/) - Judi Lowe is a Australian PhD graduand in marine science. As a Certified Practicing Accountant and a Lawyer, Judi has held executive roles with the Australian Government and Australia’s largest fishing company. Within her public and private sector careers, Judi focused on commercial fishing, then finance, drafting legislation for marine conservation, fisheries compliance, threatened species
- [The Philippines - Oslob Whale Sharks](https://thedivetourist.com/research/bright-spots/the-philippines-oslob-whale-sharks/) - The following description of Oslob Whale Sharks is drawn purely from publicly available information about the dive, snorkel and whale shark operation. This page will be updated with more detailed information about Oslob Whale Sharks contributions to integrated coastal management and its impact on conservation as soon as analysis of research is published in scientific
- [news & links](https://thedivetourist.com/news-links/)
- [Presentations](https://thedivetourist.com/presentations/) - International Conference on Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, USA, September 2019 United Nations Climate Change Week International Whale Shark Conference 5, Ningaloo Reef, Australia, May 2019 with my esteemed co-author, Dr Mark Meekan, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science ADEX Singapore, 2019 Asia Pacific Coral Reef Symposium, Cebu, The Philippines,
- [Media](https://thedivetourist.com/media/) - International Whale Shark Conference 5, Exmouth, Australia, 2019 with my esteemed co-author, Dr Mark Meekan of the Australian Institute of Marine Science Alert Diver - Diver's Alert Network (DAN), 2019 ADEX Singapore, 2019 ADEX Singapore, moderating the Sustainable Marine Tourism Forum, 2019 Asia Pacific Coral Reef Symposium, Cebu, the Philippines, 2018
- [Fiji - Beqa Adventure Divers](https://thedivetourist.com/research/bright-spots/fiji-beqa-adventure-divers/) - The following description of Beqa Adventure Divers is drawn purely from publicly available information about the dive operation. This page will be updated with more detailed information on Beqa Adventure Divers' contribution to integrated coastal management and its effect on conservation, as soon as analysis of research is published in scientific journal articles. Location Beqa
- [Livelihoods for Communities](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/what-are-livelihoods/livelihoods-for-communities/) - Providing livelihoods to local fishing communities from dive tourism in the form of community benefit programs has the advantage of spreading a benefit across the community, rather than to a small number of individual families. One idea behind providing livelihoods to communities is that when communities identify financial and in-kind benefits that come to them
- [livelihoods for fishers](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/what-are-livelihoods/livelihoods-for-fishers/) - The most common types of livelihoods to fishers from dive tourism are: Payments for... coastal leases dive user fees not fishing in no-take zones Payments for goods and services including... transporting dive tourists fresh fruit and vegetables handicrafts and souvenirs cultural performances local tours Training and
- [The Dive Tourist](https://thedivetourist.com/the-dive-tourist/) - About the dive tourist The dive tourist is about my PhD research on dive tourism and its impact on the conservation of coral reefs and marine resources and livelihoods for local fishers. The actual title of my PhD is: dive tourism and its impact on integrated coastal management and livelihoods for artisanal fishers The reason
- [Research](https://thedivetourist.com/research/) - Marine protected area managers, academics and governments all over the tropics cite dive tourism for its capacity to conserve coral reefs and provide livelihoods for local fishers. It is not know however, if dive tourism was capable of doing these things. The scientific literature is full of research on the negative effects of dive tourism
- [where does traditional marine tenure exist?](https://thedivetourist.com/traditional-marine-tenure/where-does-traditional-marine-tenure-exist/) - The recognition of traditional marine tenure is an emerging issue in less developed countries globally. Coral reef resources are increasingly scarce due to increased pressure from local population growth, demand from the developed world for fish and increasing displacement of local people by coastal tourism. Traditional marine tenure is strongly recognised in some parts of
- [why is traditional marine tenure important?](https://thedivetourist.com/traditional-marine-tenure/why-is-traditional-marine-tenure-important/) - Local fishers and communities in the less developed countries and territories of the tropics rely heavily on coral reef resources for food and income security. Many islands and atolls do not have the soil or water to produce crops or graze animals which would provide protein, including beef, sheep or pigs. Some animal forms of
- [Traditional Marine Tenure](https://thedivetourist.com/traditional-marine-tenure/) - Traditional marine tenure exists where fishers and communities, traditionally hold rights, recognised by other communities, to fish and use marine resources below the high tide mark. Traditional marine tenure is not just about ownership. Tenure rights can also include the right to occupy, use and enjoy, harvest and collect marine resources and even sell, or
- [Livelihoods](https://thedivetourist.com/livelihoods/) - Livelihoods are a way of earning income to put food on the table for the family and to provide income to support the families basic needs. Local fishers and communities living along the coral reefs of the tropics often live on very remote coasts and islands where agriculture and keeping livestock is either not possible,
- [Indonesia - Misool Eco Resort](https://thedivetourist.com/research/bright-spots/raja-ampat-indonesia-misool-eco-resort/) - The following description is drawn from publicly available information about Misool Eco Resort. This page will be updated with more detailed information as soon as analysis of research is published in scientific journal articles. Location Misool Eco Resort (MER) is located in southern Raja Ampat, in the province of West Papua in Indonesia. The diving
- [Best Practice](https://thedivetourist.com/best-practice/) - The results of the quantitative survey and three Bright Spots case studies have led to the building of a best practice model of sustainable dive tourism. The model defines how to structure dive tourism to include integrated coastal management and livelihoods for fishers and communities to conserve coral reefs and marine resources. The model will
- [Contact Us](https://thedivetourist.com/contact-us/) - [gravityform id="1" title="false" description="false"]

## Categories

- [News](https://thedivetourist.com/category/news/)