Here is the latest edition of our PepSea Project Update – we are calling it ‘The COVID edition’!

Needless to say it has been a difficult year for everyone. It is now nine months since we hosted any volunteers, and there is still no certainty as to when we can move back to a fully functioning site.

This Project Update takes a look at those last nine months, and the work we have continued to do in that time. The impact of COVID for the island of Malapascua has been huge. Tourism, the driving force of the local economy, has disappeared. What was clear to us is that the our porgrammes to work alongside the communities of the island were more relevant than ever, and must continue.

Our local team on site has really stepped up to the task and continued to deliver, even under such difficult circumstances. Our fisheries engagament programme has continued to grow, as have the number of community savings clubs. In addition, our exciting new initiative with Ecoceans (announed in our last #PEPSEATHROWBACK) has entered its initial phases, with the start of live data collection in the field.

As the year draws to a close, we are looking forward with optimism (and hope) that 2021 has better things in store. These are still difficult times for all of us, and People and the Sea remains in a precarious situation as long as our expeditons remain essentially impossible. We stand ready to welcome volunteers on site again – that moment cannot come soon enough!