a story by Our Better World
City girl Kathy Xu imagined a trip of paradise to save sharks, assist fishermen and promote conservation in Lombok, Indonesia. His trip boat off Tanjung Luar, the best kept secret of Lombok, to crown your "off the beaten list trail'travel. This is conservation, we can get used to: come for the beaches, stay for good. All you have to do to join is to take a vacation.
Kathy Xu is the founder of the Dorsal Effect, a winner in the Young Social Entrepreneurs program of the International Foundation of Singapore in 2013. The project helps fishermen and sharks by encouraging tourists to visit and explore secret beaches and snorkelling in pristine Lombok.
"People are often quick to associate sharks with only one race, the Grand Blanc, thanks to Jaws movie. I wanted more people to enjoy the many other shark species or not less aggressive than you can swim freely with and revel in their glory. So I began to engage Dorsal The effect of shark fishermen in another source of livelihood so that they can stop chasing the shark, "says Kathy.
Customers pay for an unforgettable experience Lombok . fishermen there are guests in their boats to the dive sites Snorkelling pristine and stunning, secluded beaches, away from the usual tourist areas. fair wages fishermen get away from hunting sharks.
"people like me who love sharks are often angry when we see pictures of them being killed. But as I got involved in the lives of fishermen, I came to understand that it is not their fault that the sharks die, "said Kathy.
Since there is not a viable, alternative source of income for them, hunting for sharks is the way to get by fishermen, and it is not without challenges, including being the sea several weeks at a time because the population was depleted shark they still have to go further and further to the chase.
Kathy Xu started this social enterprise because it wanted to build a sustainable model for self-empowerment and was amazed at the small changes she saw in the fishermen. She sees them offering to help customers on their own, like putting a life jacket under the head of a guest asleep on the boat, showing him that they took possession of the project.
So Kathy keeps encouraging them to do instead of hunting shark ecotourism money.
Kathy said, "I'm still far from my dream of many shark fishermen make a complete transition to ecotourism, plus learn about sustainable fishing, sharks tagged and adopted, and the reefs coral protected, first in Lombok and other sharks markets worldwide. However, every boat trip that I bring guests, I know this dream takes shape. "
Someone who came to one of our boat trips told me recently," We are only as big as the dreams we dare to live. "So Kathy dream because dreaming small cost the same as dreaming big after all.
Visit Effect Dorsal