Downbelow Marine & Wildlife hosted a Project Aware beach and reef clean-up program on Gaya Island with around 40 local participants, along with the entire Downbelow staff team & 10 Sabah Parks staff.
The day started with choppy seas and a huge rainstorm, however our group battled through and collected lots of rubbish.
The activities were split into 3 teams. The first conducted a beach clean-up, the second diving group cleaned under the Sapi jetty and the last did the always successful snorkel/beach clean-up from the boat accessing areas difficult to reach on foot.
The entire day was funded by Downbelow inclusive of food, logistics, equipment and raffle prizes (A&L from KL also provided some prizes), while Sabah Parks & Sutera Harbour Marina waived their respective fees.
Of course, all this wouldn’t have been possible without the volunteers providing the manpower to get the job done, in spite of the poor weather conditions.
Rubbish is a global problem, but if locally we all chip in then we can make a difference.
Monies raised from the raffle and a generous contribution from Affin Bank will be donated to PADI Project Aware Foundation. A conservation contribution from Downbelow to Sabah Parks was also presented to assist in their daily efforts in the TAR Park.
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