Interview with the Founder of CCC, Peter Raines
What was your inspiration for founding CCC?
In the early 1980's, I graduated as a Marine Biologist and it became clear to me that the plight of coral reefs was on the ascent i.e. coral reefs were being degraded at a very fast rate. There just were not enough scientists in the world to survey the status of reefs. It became clear that one way to assist scientists in the scientific community was to establish a volunteer based programme- using people off the street and training them up to undertake certain baseline survey work. By providing this information to scientists for use in their own databases, this could help to establish protection policies for coral reefs under threat. Ornithologists have used this approach. They use amateur birdwatchers to go out and collect information on bird populations and species diversity. So I thought, why can't we use divers to go out and do the same sort of work. So that was the inspiration behind developing the technique. The process was to develop that technique, put the technique into practice and see whether it could actually work. I am delighted to say that it does.
Have you always been interested in marine conservation?
Yes- ever since I was a young nipper, paddling around in tidal pools down by the seashore. I had the fantastic opportunity to go to Bangor University and undertake a degree in marine biology. I also had the great privilege of diving on a coral reef for the first time in 1986 and that was it, I have never looked back.
Are coral reefs and tropical forest really under threat?
Coral reefs and tropical forest are very much threatened. It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 30-40% of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed or are beyond recovery and if we do nothing about this in the next 20 years or so, a good proportion more will go that way. Coral reefs are so important, not only for the well being of communities that depend on them for food and livelihood, but also globally because they are the key systems that help to control greenhouse gases etc. They are also economically of huge importance because tourists want to go and visit coral reefs or lie on coral sand beaches. In terms of tropical forests, their decline has been exponential in the last 20 to 30 years and it is one of the most threatened habitats in the world. So it is important to do a number of things. First off, to protect these systems but also to make the general public aware of the importance of tropical forests and coral reefs. They are very important to the well being of our planet. They must be protected and to a degree, where possible, restored.
Why does CCC work to conserve tropical forests and coral reefs?
It is important when looking at conservation to take a holistic approach. If you only focus on coral reef systems and ignore the land issues adjacent to those coral reefs, you've only addressed part of the problem. The health of coral reefs is dependent on the health of terrestrial environments. If you take away tropical forests you end up with soil erosion. That soil gets washed down through the river systems onto coral reefs, choking them and eventually killing them. So it is important when looking at the conservation of coral reefs, that one also looks at surrounding land based issues.
What is CCC greatest achievement since it was founded?
The greatest thing that CCC has achieved is increasing local, national and global awareness of the importance of coral reefs and tropical forests and the threats to them. We have done a lot in terms of establishing 7 or 8 marine and forest protected areas. We were instrumental in having the Belize Barrier Reef declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That is all good news but I think that if one asks what our greatest single achievement has been, it is opening people's eyes to the wonders and plights of these environments. Getting them actively involved in turning the tide and starting to look at how to conserve and protect them.
CCC is internationally renowned and accredited. Why do you think CC has been so successful in the field of conservation?
CCC is a small organisation and I think that we have been successful in what we have done because we have not bitten off more than we can chew. We have been very careful to benchmark ourselves in terms of what we can and can't do. We have not been over ambitious. We have delivered on everything that we said that we would deliver on and at times, a little bit more. We have never gone in there banging a drum saying that we are wonderful and we can solve the world's problems. That is not our way of doing things.
Also because Coral Cay works from day one at the local community level. We are very effective in developing local and national capacity in a whole range of different things. One is environmental education awareness in terms of skills development and general capacity building. So going for the bottom up, rather than the top down approach.
Coral Cay has also been successful because we have been making an effort in trying to understand the wishes and aspiration of the local community. To work around that and with them rather than coming in and imposing what we feel the the community should be doing. We work by listening and saying: 'what do you feel the issues are here' and 'how do you feel that these issues can be resolved'. Then developing, in partnership with those communities and national host counterparts, a programme that is meaningful, effective and that has the local community at its focus and core.
In terms of as an organisation, the other reason I think that we have been successful is that we are a neutral non-campaigning organisation. We do not go in there, pointing fingers at people and saying, 'you should not be doing this'. We go in, in partnership and say: 'look, we all understand that there is an issue here and let's work together to try and resolve the problem in an easy, manageable way'. From day one, the aim is to build up a programme step by step. And by doing so, we have automatically gained the trust and cooperation of those local communities. We gently build capacity and regularly stop and review what we have done and learn any lessons that need to be learnt from it.
What does CCC do for local communities in host countries?
Coral Cay Conservation listens to the community. The first thing we do is listen to their concerns, their issues, their ideas, their aspirations. And based on what they tell us and what they would like CCC to do for them, we develop and build them in as the core of the programme. The range of activities that we are involved in includes community education, training, getting into schools, talking about coral reefs and tropical forests and how wonderful these things are and making it fun and interactive so that it is not turgid information but dynamic. It is developing awareness within the community of the issues affecting their coral reefs. Again listening to them, to what they believe the issues are. And also bringing lessons learnt from other communities to them and saying:'well in fact another community ten thousand miles away shared the same concerns or wishes that you have'.
So it is exchanging information, exchanging ideas and providing conservation education. And then developing capacity within the local community to assist them fulfil their aspiration. This could be training key members of the community in techniques that we use so that they can independently monitor their reefs and forests. Also, developing communication skills so that they can understand the issues and participate in the debate. So that when a government minister possibly comes in and says, 'we think that your community should be doing X, Y and Z', the community members can turn around and say, 'actually we are aware of the issues'. So it is empowering communities in that way. Education, training, capacity building and making sure that the community has full understanding of the reasons why for example, the reefs on their doorstep are degrading, and then giving them an opportunity to make decisions for themselves in terms of how they best see the ecosystem being put back into working order.
Do you actively search for regions to work in?
CCC does not actively seek projects. We do not say that we would like to go and work in a specific location because it is a beautiful reef system or forest. We actually wait for people to contact us and say, 'we understand that you do very good things, your services are free of charge and are able to achieve the things that you promise in the time that you said that you would do it. We also understand that you have the community at the core of any project that you develop. Would you please consider coming to our area and helping us?'
If we receive a call like that, then the first step is to go and meet the local communities and stakeholders and discuss what their concerns and ideas are. We have to be convinced that when we are invited to look at a potential project, that all the bits and pieces are going to be there. i.e. the community must want it, they must be the ones leading it and it must be their ideas. And then from that, if we feel comfortable with the potential project, the next step is to build a project proposal around the information they have given us and the issues that they have raised.
How do you select project partners?
Coral Cay Conservation does not select project partners- project partners select us. We are approached by communities, NGOs or government units seeking assistance from Coral Cay in terms of conservation management, education issues, and so on. And our first action would be to visit the country and meet with the communities, the NGO's, and other potential partners and in discussion with them, develop an agreement or partnership. So it is not a question of Coral Cay selecting them but us operating what we would like to think of as an all embracing open-house policy. Anyone who wants to partner can.
How active is Professor Bellamy as President of CCC?
David Bellamy has been active with Coral Cay, right from day one i.e. since 1985. He has been the inspiration to me personally, as the founder of Coral Cay and also to the thousands of volunteers that have participated on Coral Cay projects. He is incredibly active in his own right as a world-class conservationist. But in terms of Coral Cay, he is always there for us. He has visited most of the project sites now. He has travelled with me extensively, and I with him, for meetings around the world. He is incredibly enthusiastic about Coral Cay and I think it is fair to say that without David's encouragement, guidance and support, Coral Cay would not be the successful organisation that it is today.
How important are the Volunteers that you recruit?
Coral Cay volunteers are the core of Coral Cay. Without CCC volunteers there is no Coral Cay. Suffice it to say that Coral Cay volunteers are equal partners, if you like. They are at the core of what we do, of our capacity, our resource to be able to go out and accomplish biodiversity conservation. The bottom-line is, without Coral Cay volunteers, there is no Coral Cay.
CCC volunteers pay to join an expedition. What can they expect to receive in return for their money and effort?
The irony of CCC is that we are asking people, volunteers, to pay us loads of money to go and work very hard for someone else. It is not cheap running expeditions of any nature and particularly not marine based expeditions. There is an awful lot of cost involved, not just in terms of upfront costs in the field, but also all the back stopping required to get volunteers interested and enroled onto Coral Cay projects in the first place.
In terms of the money they pay us, that money is dispersed to recruit them in the first place. To then manage their enrolment process before they join the expedition and then obviously to pay for all the field costs during the course of their expedition. And equally importantly, once they leave, is to continue the work that they have started. So the money is spread across broad sectors. A lot of the money is also spent on community support work, which the volunteers play a direct and indirect part in. So for example, it is funding local community representatives to teach them to be trainers. It is doing community cross-cultural exchanges, where we take one or two key members of a community to another community to see lessons learnt, so they can bring those lessons back to their own community.
What is the difference between CCC Expeditions and the CCC Trust?
Coral Cay Conservation Expeditions is the conservation active arm of the Coral Cay Conservation Family. There are basically two parts:
- There is the Coral Cay Conservation Trust- a UK registered charity with its own independent board of trustees. Their primary job is to look at funding community-based education and training programmes to back stop, to a large degree, the programmes that Coral Cay itself has been invited to participate on.
- Coral Cay Expeditions is the arm of Coral Cay that actually gets volunteers interested in the first place, recruiting them, and then getting them out on site and looking after them. And then getting them to work very hard to come up with the information we need to assist our partners in developing marine and forest protected areas.
You were recently awarded with the MBE and Chartered Geographer status... what next?
I am very proud and humbled to have received these acknowledgements. They would not have been awarded to me if it were not for the thousands of volunteers, who make up and compose Coral Cay. So I accepted those awards on behalf of Coral Cay Conservation, our wonderful in-country partners, my staff and all the thousands of volunteers that make up Coral Cay. I do not really deserve these recognitions. I feel like a bit of a charlatan in some senses because all the hard work and effort has been done by others and I am being seen as the figure that can receive them but rest assured, in some senses, I feel that I do not personally deserve them.
Are there any new CCC projects on the horizon?
There are many new CCC projects coming up. We've got the existing ones which are on our website which people can look at obviously. There are new ones in the pipeline for Brazil, Cuba, West Africa and possibly one in East Africa. We have also been invited to look at other projects in the South Pacific outside of Fiji. So there is a lot coming up.
