The obstacles that marine life faces are often the result of human activities, most of which could have been prevented with timely information. For example, many are not aware of how harmful anchoring in posidonia meadows can be. Or how significant threat to biodiversity posed by discarded plastic bag in a cave can be.
There are numerous solutions to preserving our natural ecosystems, and one of those that Sunce is intensively involved in is educating children and young people about marine protection. Below, we share how we spent a day with the children of Hvar, learning about the marine ecosystem so they, too, can become protectors of this vital environment.
Pakleni Islands marine protected area
We educated elementary school students from Hvar about the sea and its inhabitants. Hvar Elementary School has been participating in various workshops for years with the aim of expanding students’ knowledge and getting to know the nature around them. The educational program The Seagrass Posidonia and the Benefits of No-Fishing Zones was implemented as part of the Pakleni Islands Marine Protected Area project of the Public Institutions Sea and Karst. The project is funded by the Mediterranean Network of Marine Protected Areas MedPAN and the Peter Bertarelli Foundation.
Sunce is actually a member of the MedPAN network, which covers 72,209.17 km² of Mediterranean marine protected areas (which is 78% of the total coverage of marine protected areas). In 16 years of its work, this non-profit organization from France has brought together 132 organizations (members and partners) from 21 Mediterranean countries, all with the same goal – to establish and improve the management of marine protected areas across the Mediterranean.
Marine protected areas are recognized as one of the most effective nature-based solutions for preserving and protecting the marine environment. Sunce strives to contribute to the establishment of such areas in its work and is currently working on the development of an Expert Study for the Expert Basis for Changing the Boundaries of the Pakleni Islands Significant Landscape and the Implementation of an Educational Program for Children. We want to declare a marine protected area to protect and restore natural habitats, increase fish stocks and preserve biodiversity – our greatest asset.
The children got to know the seabed and were particularly interested in the noble pen shell
Upon the arrival at the Pakleni Islands, in Palmižana, we first gathered in front of the information board Meadows of the endemic seagrass Posidonia to learn about Posidonia, the “lungs of the Mediterranean”. This protected species and endemic to the Mediterranean is extremely useful because it produces oxygen, stores CO2 and helps prevent coastal erosion. Posidonia is also a habitat, food source, breeding and nursery area for numerous marine organisms.
The children then played the game “Guess who” and, with visual help on the board, discovered which marine organisms live in its meadows. They were particularly intrigued by a description of an endangered Adriatic species.
– I am the largest shellfish in the Adriatic Sea. I live with half of my body buried in the sand, which makes the Posidonia seagrass meadow the perfect home for me. If it disappears, I am endangered as well. My shells host numerous organisms, and I’m an ideal resident because, like other shellfish, I filter the sea, feeding while simultaneously cleaning it, – after reading the description, a small discussion started among the students about who it could be. After someone enthusiastically shouted, “noble pen shell”, we set off for a walk to Vlaka.
“Barba” Tonči unravels the nets – fishing and fisherman’s complaints
Upon arrival at the Vlaka, the children had the opportunity to meet Tonči, an 84-year-old fisherman who told them all about his fishing adventures. He pointed out that there used to be more noble pen shells, more fish, and even sharks. The children, as expected, liked the stories about encounters with sharks the most, and they were not short of attention when we went down to the beach, where fisherman Tonči showed them how to weave a net.
Upon returning to the Fisherman’s House and Pension Tonči, the children had fun drawing and putting together puzzles of posidonia and noble pen shell. During this time, educator Martina Talajić from Sunce showed them posidonia leaves that she found on the beach.
– Given that it is a bay, there was a certain amount of marine litter brought by the sea on the beach. And in that tangled mess, besides marine litter, we also noticed green parts of Posidonia that served as a demonstration of symbiosis because epiphytes – organisms that grow on Posidonia leaves – could be clearly seen on them. The children had the opportunity to observe the Posidonia meadow during the boat ride, and they also saw what it looks like when parts of Posidonia end up on the shore – whether intentionally or accidentally, – said Talajić.
The students also learned about the threats to the survival of the Posidonia seagrass, and one of those that is characteristic of the Pakleni Islands during the summer months is anchoring in its meadows.
How to introduce the concept of a no-take zones to children
After learning about the threats to our sea and the living world in it, Talajić explained to them how we can protect the Adriatic. One solution is to establish no-take zones. However, in order for children to better understand such a difficult concept, the students played Sunce’s game “Food network”.
The children were given cards with marine organisms, and the educator read a story “that has no end”. It is a story about a food web in the sea, in which all organisms are connected in some way. From phytoplankton to sharks! To show this connection, the students, each of whom represented a species, were given a rope that represented the connection between predators and food. In the end, this web was quite intertwined.
– At the end, I asked them what would happen if one species, for example zooplankton, disappeared, what impact would that have on the food web? All the zooplankton then had to release their part of the web, and the students noticed that an imbalance had arisen. At the end of the game, the students realized how connected everything in nature is. – Talajić pointed out.
To prevent part of the network from disappearing, it is important to establish no-take zones, that is, areas in the sea where fishing is not allowed. In these areas, the fish then have time to multiply and grow. And when there are fish, there are other organisms. Everything is connected, right?
Children as fish and fishermen – the game “Save me if you can”
The last activity as part of this education was the game “Save me if you can”, which brought children closer to the relationship between nature protection and the restoration of fish populations.
– We began by dividing the students into fishermen and fish, with a 1:3 ratio. They chased each other along the beach until the fishermen caught all the fish—in just two minutes! This mirrors the situation in open waters with unrestricted fishing. In the second scenario, we introduced no-take zones where fishing was prohibited. In this part, two students played the role of Posidonia, “protecting” the fish from being caught. Fish could save themselves by entering the protected zone or by being “rescued” by a Posidonia student, who would guide them to safety within the no-take zone. By the end of the game, some fish had been saved in the no-fishing zone, while a few were caught, much to the fishermen’s delight. That’s exactly how it should work in our seas, – explained Talajić.
To check how much they remembered, we challenged them to a game of “Tic-Tac-Toe” at the end.
However, it was not an ordinary “Tic-Tac-Toe” game – before they could put a cross or a circle in a field, they had to correctly answer a question from the field of nature. To the surprise of their teachers, the students showed excellent knowledge and proved that by playing our games they had really learned a lot about nature and the environment that surrounds them. It was another very successfully implemented educational service. Sunce also won the SKOCKANO quality mark for its educational programs, and if you yourself would like to become a user of our education, please contact us at [email protected]!