Larry Woghiren, a member of the Royal Yachting Association and an internationally experienced diver said, “Being around the ocean makes me feel more centered and calm. When I am at sea looking across the water, it gives my mind and senses a break from overstimulation, I get into a mindful state that trigger insights or ideas which may have eluded me otherwise. Some times when I am diving at more than one hundred feet underwater in contemplative silence I feel inspired to be better connected with my surroundings and experience a sense of awe for the ocean and everything in it.”

1. Larry Woghiren at the Surfrider
Foundation, Voice for the Ocean event in
Malaga Spain
Domingo 30 Septiembre 2018 11:00am at Paseo Marítimo Cdad. de Melilla,
25, 29016 Málaga, Spain
The actions begin on Sunday, September 30 at the Malagueta beach to
continue from Monday, October 1 at La Térmica (Málaga Provincial Council)
and on Tuesday, 2 at Plaza Félix Sáenz.
The Port of Malaga participates in the European campaign ‘Voice for the
Ocean’
Larry Woghiren, a member of the Royal Yachting Association and an
internationally experienced diver said, “Being around the ocean makes me
feel more centered and calm. When I am at sea looking across the water, it
gives my mind and senses a break from overstimulation, I get into a mindful
state that trigger insights or ideas which may have eluded me otherwise.
Some times when I am diving at more than one hundred feet underwater in
contemplative silence I feel inspired to be better connected with my
surroundings and experience a sense of awe for the ocean and everything in
it.”

2. The VOICE FOR THE OCEAN campaign joins local initiative United by the
Sea in order to carry out an action to educate citizens on the main problems
ocean protection using educational tools adapted to your knowledge.
Institutions of the nautical sports sector mobilise around this beach cleaning
action among others activities.
We are near the collapse of our seas. Overfishing, climate change and
pollution are killing marine life. The micro-plastics present in the body of the
fish have reached the food chain, affecting people’s health. Urgent measures
are needed before the situation is irreversible.
The good news is that if we act now, we can reconcile human activity with life
at sea. The latest scientific research reveals that if a marine area is properly
protected in less than 5 years, it can triple its biomass.
This explosion of life generates benefits derived from aquatic ecotourism and
diving and acts as a nursery for sustainable fishing outside the protected area.

3. Another conservation model is possible with the commitment of institutions,
economic sectors and citizens. Because if the sea wins, we all win, it is time to
recover the marine balance.
The Ayuntamiento de Malaga is going to welcome a step of the Voice for the
Ocean tour. This campaign is raised by Surfrider Foundation Europe and aims
to reap the opinions of European citizens about the management and the
protection of the oceans with the purpose of collecting voices, and make a
concrete proposal to the future European parliament.
The challenge of maintaining economic activities and reconciling them with
the preservation of the environment is at the heart of European policies.
Faced with this challenge, the European Commission has initiated a campaign
to involve citizens and obtain their opinions on the priority actions to be
deployed to preserve marine and coastal ecosystems.
Under the framework of a Life project, the Surfrider Europe Foundation is in
charge of this dialogue, which has been taking place since 1 June via the
VOICE FOR THE OCEAN online platform and a tour in five European cities to
mobilise citizens. At the end of 2018, concrete proposals for the protection of
the oceans will be given to future European parliamentarians, aiming for their
commitment to integrate these priorities collected through the campaign into
their work programme.
From 30 September to 2 October, the campaign arrives to Malaga, where
IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation together with the Council of
Málaga will participate in the tour. The arrival of the campaign in Malaga will
hopefully help reap the opinion of European citizens about the management
and the protection of the oceans with the purpose of collecting voices, and
make a concrete proposal to the future European parliament.
The three-day event in Málaga includes: Participatory beach clean-ups, high
level meetings and several awareness-activities in the city centre.
The city of Malaga is an important tourist destination of the Mediterranean
coast that has 570,000 inhabitants and a growing tourist activity of more than
4 million visitors expected for 2018. One development opportunity, but also a
challenge constant in terms of resource management environmental, such as
the coasts, of which it is a sector tourist depends.
Maintaining economic activities and reconciling with the preservation of the
environment is a fundamental objective of European policies. Faced with this

4. challenge, the European Commission wishes to involve to citizens and collect
their opinions on priority actions that could be implemented to reserve marine
and coastal ecosystems. Through a project funded by the LIFE program,
Surfrider Foundation Europe is in charge to make this consultation to
European citizens.
This campaign called VOICE FOR THE OCEAN has been launched on June
1 through an online platform and will be presented during a tour by five
European cities. At the end of 2018, and from this citizen consultation,
proposals will be presented concrete for the protection of the oceans to future
European parliamentarians. The goal is to commit to integrating the priorities
expressed in your work program. After Burgas (Bulgaria) and Paris (France),
the city of Malaga will be the third destination of the Voice tour for the Ocean.
The Center for Mediterranean Cooperation of the International Union for
Conservation de la Naturaleza together with Surfrider Foundation Europe
organize, in collaboration with the actors local and regional, three days of
exchanges with citizens through debates, activities of conferences and
outreach in the heart of the city. This event also aims to contribute to develop
the sustainable tourism chapter of the city’s 2020 sustainable development
strategy from Malaga. The city is committed to Surfrider Europe to make the
voice of its citizens be heard in the European Parliament, continuing its
actions as a pioneering territory in solutions to support the transition to
sustainable tourism.