Need your help...

[Polly]

I have a project I've been wanting to develop for quite some time now, involving working with children in several different countries. The idea is that I work with a group of children in a school to write a story about a conservation issue that affects them. I then take that story to a different country and the new children make their own story in response to it. The stories would also some how be appropriate for acting out so that they could be shared physically as well as in book form.

I've just had the chance to receive a grant that could well cover all of the travel expenses but I've not really had time to figure out what I want to do and where. I've already got a couple of stories about the destruction of the rainforest that I could adapt, and I had an idea for a story about turtle conservation while I was in the Gilis but I only have a couple of weeks to get my head round other conservation issues that could be appropriate for teaching to 6-8 year olds.

And the reason I'm posting here is that it would probably be quite cool if I could get a few months of paid travel in places that I can dive... My stories only have one sentence on each page so I can probably generate myself quite a lot of free time while away if they were to decide to bless me with the cash!

So...any of you guys got ideas about conservation issues around the world / endangered species etc. that I could write about but that would also be within reasonable distance of some pretty good diving?! The world could well be my oyster and I don't actually mind extending the trip if necessary. It could also be that the series of books ends up being published alongside some of my others so technically any time or cash I put into it myself would be an investment... and of course I'd keep you all up to date with my usual travel disasters. If I get the grant it would probably be January 2010 that I would go as I'm kind of booked up until then anyway.

Sorry to be so lazy but I've only got about a week or so to put my initial proposal together and although I know the kind of series of books I want to produce, it's a bit overwhelming to have to figure out exactly where I would like to go and why so quickly!

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I've been looking here for ideas so far...

http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherew...index.html

[Stix]

Polly - Aleia will have loads of ideas for you I'm sure as she has email pen pals all over the place. She's away with her Mum until Saturday but I'll let her know.

[O2 Steve]

Sounds like a top idea Pol! Maybe worth something a little closer to home as well - so that it don't suggest that conservation efforts are only needed in far aways sunny places??

[Letz]

Sounds brilliant

I'm sure you will get lots of support and input regarding wildlife and coral etc. but could I put a vote in for caring for our caves ? The stalagmites and stalactites have been formed over hundreds of thousands and, in some cases, millions of years. They are still growing and 'living' yet most regard them as disposable rock that can be handled, snapped off for souvenirs and even sold to tourists



IMHO this is as valid as the destructiuon of coral and the ecological implications.
Some massive cave systems have been seriously destroyed and we should remember that most of these inland, solution caves, carry fresh, clean water and may become a source of survival for us in years to come.

I wouldn’t want to get onto Jarrod Jablonski’s whole conversation campaign in Florida but it may be the way to preserve our caves (ensuring clean water, not becoming DIR – Heaven forbid! )

There are fantastic caves everywhere so if you can include them in your conservation road trip you will get to visit more wonderful places maybe dive a cenote in Yucatan



am I convincing you yet ?

[divingdoc1]

How about the impact of tourism on places like manado or paua new guinea?

[coldhands]

Sharks. Everyone has them from the humble dogfish to the whaleshark.

[O2 Steve]

(09-09-2008 10:48 AM)coldhands Wrote:  Sharks. Everyone has them from the humble dogfish to the whaleshark.

good point!

[jock-russell]

stay at home like the rest of us mortals...nah i would go with the shark one for what its worth

[PeteStewart]

How about how global warming is affecting the coastal eco-systems in a range of places

Loss and gains in fish & fauna as the coastal waters warm, pollution and development change. A broad brush, but possibly more saleable than concentrating on a single species.

[bottlefish]

How about heading out to South Pacific, Tuamotus and it's coral atolls, looking at how the sustainable fishing within the familly and community units compares with the large scale fishing that often passes through that way.... also pearl farming, coral export etc etc, how the money can tempt away from the sustainable.