How you can help... the Environment
- Don't throw your waste into the environment. Look for a basurahan (waste bin) or throw it away into your bin at home.
- Keep some distance from nesting marine turtles (about 5 metres) and turn your lights off until the mother is already laying eggs. Try not to make loud noise, but instead watch the unique process of nesting.
- Keep some distance also from other marine wildlife (about 2-5 metres) and don't irritate or harass wildlife.
- Spread environmental awareness among your family and friends. Let them know, why the protection of nature and marine conservation is so important. Without marine wildlife and the ecosystem functions they perform, our fish stocks may decrease and we would have less food to eat. Coastal and marine habitats will suffer as e.g. algae on coral reefs might not be removed by turtles any more, which would affect tourism. And we would lose the opportunity to show these beautiful animals to our children.
- If you're on holidays and you see that resorts in the area are not following appropriate procedures regarding beach lighting, pollution or else, please approach them in a friendly manner and let them know about implications for marine wildlife and people.
- If you find marine wildlife that is injured but still alive, try to get help as quickly as you can. If possible, bring it to us and we will try to take care of it and release it afterwards.
- If you find marine wildlife that is dead, please report either to us, or directly to the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines at: [email protected] or via the MWWP Facebook page, or to the DENR-BMB
- For other useful guidance on how to reduce threats for marine wildlife, please have a look at our "Threats" page here.
How you can help... the Kids
- The kids are eager to learn. If you have a topic you would like to talk about, e.g. waste prevention, community activities, etc., please contact us and we could schedule a time for a lecture, workshop, meeting etc.
- We are always looking for role models for our kids. If you have grown up in a similar way, but have overcome many challenges, or you are working in marine conservation, or you are in a youth organisation etc., please come and share you stories with the youngsters.
- If you are in a position to offer scholarships to the kids, we would be happy to hear from you! Please contact us at our email address.
- Most of the kids lack items to cover their basic needs, such as proper nutrition, cloths, shelter... Most kids also have very limited means to purchase school materials and to pay their school allowances. Donations, both money and in kind, for food, cloths, school materials/allowance etc. would be really appreciated. If you would like to donate, please contact us via email at: [email protected].
How you can help... Amihan sa Dahican-SOS
- Come and visit us at Dahican Beach. We would love to show you around and watch our marine wildlife together with you, so you can be learning and having fun with a cause.
- Take surfing and skimboarding lessons with us. It's so much fun! Payment of skim/surf lessons will help the team to finance our basic needs and to continue our activities.
- Sometimes, we need to monitor the interaction of tourists with the turtles when they are laying eggs, as people would not know the distancing guidelines and disturb the mother turtles with flash light photography, loud noise, and by touching the turtle. Please respect the work we do and follow our instructions, and don't offend or threaten us. We are trying our best to make this a great experience for the turtles as well as for the people.
- We are eager to learn and to improve our skills, knowledge & abilities, which is why we would appreciate any lecture, workshop, seminar that we could take part in. We could take part as participant and/or speakers, as we can also present and share our experience and lessons learned from the work we have been doing over the years. Please write to us if you're interested.
- Due to our extensive experience in the area, we are great project partners for projects taking place in the area. We can guide partners with our knowledge on marine wildlife and the Dahican community and are committed to engage in marine conservation projects. If you see an opportunity to involve us in your project, please let us know.
- If you are a resident of Brgy Dahican or Mati municipality, please support our cause. We are trying to protect the beautiful nature we have been given as Pinoys and to educate the future guardians of nature. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop by at any time and to ask us about our work.
- We would be happy about any kind of donations, so we can continue our work and support our team. That concerns both financial and in kind donations, as we lack materials for marine conservation activities, such as for record keeping (camera/underwater camera, laptop) and equipment/material for other facilities, like for a small turtle clinic. We plan to establish a sustainable livelihood program for the Amihan Team, to be self-sustaining in the long-term, but we need to invest first. If you would like to support our cause, please contact us via email at: [email protected].
"Live Simple, Love Nature, Surf & Skim."