Roatán Marine Park
The Roatán Marine Park (RMP), based in Roatán, Honduras, is a grass roots, community-based, non-profit organization, non governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ... (NGO) established in January 2005 by a group of dive operators and local businesses that were concerned about the alarming rate of reef degradation in the Sandy Bay-West End Marine Reserve (SBWEMR). With a rapidly developing island, the number of challenges the RMP faces increases daily. References External linksRoatán tourism site Roatán Marine Park site Marine rese ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roatán
Roatán () is an island in the Caribbean, about off the northern coast of Honduras. The largest of the Bay Islands Department, Bay Islands of Honduras, it is located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja. It is approximately long, and less than across at its widest point. The island consists of two Municipalities of Honduras, municipalities: José Santos Guardiola, Bay Islands, José Santos Guardiola in the east and Roatán, including the Cayos Cochinos, in the west. The island was formerly known in English as Ruatan and Rattan. Geography Roatán is a coral island. Situated atop an exposed ancient coral reef, it rises to about above sea level. The easternmost quarter of the island is separated by a 15-meter-wide channel through the mangrove forest. This section is called Helene, or ''Santa Elena'' in Spanish. Satellite islands at the eastern end are Morat, Barbareta, and Pigeon Cay. Most of the infrastructure is on the western half of the island. The most populous to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Its Capital city, capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya civilization, Maya, before Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century. The Spanish introduced Catholic Church, Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic, although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability, and remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 1960, the northern part o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Non-profit Organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or social benefit, as opposed to an entity that operates as a business aiming to generate a Profit (accounting), profit for its owners. A nonprofit organization is subject to the non-distribution constraint: any revenues that exceed expenses must be committed to the organization's purpose, not taken by private parties. Depending on the local laws, charities are regularly organized as non-profits. A host of organizations may be non-profit, including some political organizations, schools, hospitals, business associations, churches, foundations, social clubs, and consumer cooperatives. Nonprofit entities may seek approval from governments to be Tax exemption, tax-exempt, and some may also qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions, but an enti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Non Governmental Organisation
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus on humanitarian or social issues but can also include clubs and associations offering services to members. Some NGOs, like the World Economic Forum, may also act as lobby groups for corporations. Unlike international organizations (IOs), which directly interact with sovereign states and governments, NGOs are independent from them. The term as it is used today was first introduced in Article 71 of the newly formed United Nations Charter in 1945. While there is no fixed or formal definition for what NGOs are, they are generally defined as nonprofit entities that are independent of governmental influence—although they may receive government funding. According to the UN Department of Global Communications, an NGO is "a not-for profit, vo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coral Reef Protection
Coral reef protection is the process of modifying human activities to avoid damage to healthy coral reefs and to help damaged reefs recover. The key strategies used in reef protection include defining measurable goals and introducing active management and community involvement to reduce stressors that damage reef health. One management technique is to create Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that directly limit human activities such as fishing. Recreational diving, Recreational scuba diving can have a Environmental impact of recreational diving, measurable adverse impact on tropical coral reefs, mostly due to contact damage of brittle and fragile branched Scleractinia, stony corals. The most common damages of corals while diving occurs due to the fins striking the corals as well as hands, knees, and equipment gauges. Low impact diving, This can be reduced by improving diver Scuba skills#Buoyancy control, buoyancy and Diver trim, trim skills, and by educating divers on the consequences ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marine Reserves
A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural resources is prohibited, marine reserves may also be "no-take MPAs,” which strictly forbid all extractive activities, such as fishing and kelp harvesting. As of 2007 less than 1% of the world's oceans had been set aside in marine reserves. Benefits include increases in the diversity, density, biomass, body size and reproductive potential of fishery and other species within their boundaries. As of 2010, scientists had studied more than 150 marine reserves in at least 61 countries and monitored biological changes inside the reserves. The number of species in each study ranged from 1 to 250 and the reserves ranged in size from 0.006 to 800 square kilometers (0.002 to 310 square miles). In 2014, the World Parks Association adopted a target ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |