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September 5th 2008
1. Clean-up
a. Last Clean-up
i. The last Clean-up in Sairee had about 42 divers present and pulled up more than 122 kgs. Of rubbish.
ii. The Save Koh Tao group was able to pump much of the sludge from the Sariee âPoo-namaâ canal and maintain the drainage ways. Plans are underway to install aerators in the canal and create holding pools to treat the waste water before it goes into the sea.
iii. Thanks to Bans, Big Blue, Big Bubble, BlackTip, Coral Grand, Crystal, New Heaven, Siam Scuba, Samui Diving Services, and the other schools who helped out.
b. This monthâs clean-up will be done in conjunction with the International Clean-up day on the 20th and take place in Chalok Ban Kao/Ao Tien Og.
i. The logistical planning meeting will occur with the biorock meeting on the 18th at 7pm, Dirty Nellieâs.
ii. Since it is the international clean-up day we hope to have more schools helping out than the last few clean-ups, so talk to your managers/owners as soon as possible.
2. Budget
a. The budgets for the marine branch and the Biorock projects are attached to this e-mail. Updates have not yet been made for those schools who donated money at the last meeting.
b. My salary will now be coming straight from Save Koh Tao and not the marine branch budget, hopefully this will help us to save money quicker for the new projects we want to get going.
3. Standards
a. The standards sheet for the dive shops wishing to be Save Koh Tao members have been amended so that they are no longer required to donate 1,500 towards the marine branch each month. We did this to make sure that manger/owners would not be put off from joining. So, the donations are no longer mandatory, but please remember that it is the way we are able to keep going on with the monthly projects.
4. EMP
a. As discussed before, the Ecological Monitoring Program (EMP) is the only way we are able to identify problems in reef health around Koh Tao and report those problems to the local/regional government and other research groups.
b. In order to identify where reef health is declining we need as much information as we can get, so we need more schools involved. If you do not know about the EMP, or your schools is not involved in any sort of reef check please contact me so we can discuss getting something going in your schools. Or come try out the course for a day and see what you think. It is a good program to be the center of marine conservation at your school, educates and raises the awareness of divers, raises money for the Marine Branch, and earns money for you and your dive school.
c. We need both people trained to collect the data (Advanced or higher), and also people to teach the EMP to students (must be an SSI Instructor).
5. Mooring Buoy
a. The local government held a meeting last month and decided to give us 100,000 baht next year to install and maintan the mooring buoys around the island.
b. During the Monsoon season I will be compiling a report and action plan for the project, so I need any data that you have collected thus far. The schools involved should know who they are, but even if you did not sign up for an area you can help out. Just let me know at which dive sites the mooring have problems and nee maintenance (maybe a map of the site would be helpful) or which sites need more buoys. That way we can start right up in January with the installations.
6. Giant Clams
a. Because of the extreme importance of giant clams in coral reef health, the local government also is giving us 100,000 baht to start a giant clam project on the island.
b. We will be using the money to create a large clam nursery where the clams can grow and then be transplanted in the reefs around Koh Tao. Starting next year, schools involved with Save Koh Tao and the EMP will be able to assist with this project and learn about the methods of research and restoration involved.
7. Biorock
a. If you do not yet have a copy of the new poster please e-mail me and arrange getting one.
b. All of the donation bins from around the island will be collected on the 15th of this month. Please help us to make sure we collect all of them by getting the money to us. Also, if you need a logo on your box to keep it going for Marine Branch Donations I should have those available to pick-up in New Heaven Dive School in the next few days or e-mail me and I will drop one by.
c. We voted on the name of the biorock dive site at the meeting, the winner was âHin Faiâ which in English means âElectric Rock.â
d. The schedule for the biorock building week is not completely set at the moment, but the general plan is:
i. Sept. 15th-20th: Power supply construction, anode deployment, anchor installment, mooring buoy, preparations for workshop
ii. 22nd-27th: Structure (anode) construction during the day from all schools involved with the project, lectures from Dr. Goreau (Biorock inventor, UN Advisor) at night
iii. 28th move the structure to the site and turn on the power, after party
October 5th will be the last meeting for the marine branch for this year, please try to come. Over the next few months I will be writing up the goals and outlines for the next year. I would like to have everybodyâs input as to how this 1st year went, what could be improved, and what should be added on next year. Please be specific and take some time to get your ideas down, and ask others in your dive shop what they think, that way next year can be even more productive than this one. You can e-mail me your comments and ideas, or if you would like them to be anonymous you can bring them to the next meeting and we will pass an envelope around. Thank you for your help.
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