• The Implications for individual responsibility can be an integral part of many parts of education. They could be presented with a list of areas where they can take on roles of responsibility. Backgrounder sheets on marine issues that they can take with them with clear directions for how to get involved in the issues..
• There is a responsibility of people who recreate and use the sensitive areas of our coastal ecosystems in these areas, stay on paths, no dune buggies, nesting habitats should be off limits to recreational vehicles and water craft, bird islands-- importance of no disruption of coastal margins should be presented.
• Tools to lobby for action..a set of addresses.. e-mails of who is in charge of the issues at various political levels.
  
• A take away recipe book for responsible marine eating could be developed.(see the Sierra Club's example--only make it more informative..i.e. why certain fish species are at risk.)
• Advertise the local restaurants which serve sustainably harvested marine food.
• A good index of web resources that promote marine sustainability
• Information on alternatives in life styles/residences/forms of transportation, even green roofs to catch runoffs, holding ponds to enhance on land habitat that prevent runoff and stop coastal siltation .
  

Actions for the public to follow up

• Passive ecotourism is not an option!!
  Students can be encouraged to make a follow-up pledge The goal is to get 100% involvement in some form of follow-up action, perhaps with a monitoring scale which gives feedback on how successful this is? Highlight right up front in the goals, the important role of public participation in marine issues.
• A commitment from students to help in a role in building the Southern Vancouver Islands Sustainable Ecosystems Map and the directions and the tools to do that.
• There is a need for large areas to be set aside for habitat now while it is available, later it may diminish. Everyone should leave with a commitment to lobby for better marine protection in the form of Marine parks and protected areas.. Present a map where students can mark off the areas they think should be used as conservation-related marine reserves.
• Follow up on the RAMSAR enigma.. of why there are no Ramsar sites on any of Canada's marine Coasts
• Encouragement for individuals to be involved in "Adopting a Marine Ecosystem" could be done in the form of a range of suggestions from doing regular beach clean-ups to being a guardian of an island.
• Responsible sports and commercial fisheries are desperately needed. Anyone who lives near the oceans can be considered a stakeholder in committees and public hearings.Students could build a website which will keep people informed of upcoming opportunities for involvement in their area. Backgrounders could be linked to the website in order to provide individual citizens with the information necessary to make a statement about their concern for marine sustainability.
  

• Responsible eating of marine food will help to conserve some rare species and habitats. Use a check list where people can do an evaluation of their sustainability index in their diet. Often threatened species in other countries and on the high seas are not protected from unsustainable fisheries. Develop case studies of mariculture which does not harm environment yet which supplies our needs for marine food production.
• See the references available already on this topic in the Ocean food file:
• Goal to get 100% involvement in some form of follow-up action, how about a monitoring scale which gives feedback on how successful this is?

Index

This file was created in 2008 as a marine education resource supported by the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney

Website courtesy of racerocks.com & Lester B. Pearson College. Copyright: 2008 Garry Fletcher Marine Education Consulting,