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 data points are different in a good way. A methodology more commonly used in medical science, studying bright spots allows us to learn from excellence and new ways of thinking to solve problems in the general population.
How can we learn from bright spots in dive tourism?
Bright spot dive operators around the tropics are making extraordinary contributions to the conservation of coral reefs, fish and marine resources. Using integrated coastal management, bright spot dive operators conserve coral reef resources, provide livelihoods to local fishers and communities and reduce destructive fishing around their dive sties. We can learn from bright spot dive operators by researching what they are dong, how they are doing it and whether it can be replicated by dive operators in other locations.
Part of this research design was to identify three bright spot dive operators whose success in conserving coral reefs and marine resources is so different to most of the population, that they really stand out. They are exceptional. Those three dive tourism operators became bright spot case studies.
Where are the bright spots?
The three bright spot case studies are:
Bright spots show that some dive operators around the tropics are making extraordinary contributions; reducing destructive fishing by providing livelihoods for local fishers and communities and fully conserving coral reefs, fish stocks, sharks and manta rays around their dive sites. These dive operators conserve by using integrated coastal management.
South Beach, Misool Eco Resort, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
