End of the year wishes from Tetiaroa atoll

Dec 2024

Ia Ora Na

As 2024 comes to a close it is clear that the challenges our ocean planet faces on local and global scales are daunting. Our work this year, both on and off Tetiaroa, has been focused on island and ocean conservation – protecting the people, the place, and the cultures of Oceania.

On the island we continued our Tetiaroa Atoll Restoration Program which is making this island safe for its resident seabirds, sea turtles, coconut crabs, and all of the marine organisms that make up its vibrant coral reef system.

As we had hoped, this program has become a model for other islands and in fact was featured on the cover of two prestigious scientific journals.

Our Education Program has once again introduced hundreds of local and international students to the island’s natural and cultural heritage and the sustainable practices initiated by The Brando resort and followed by everyone on the island.

Off the island, our Blue Climate Initiative has been working to stop Deep Sea Mining using both technical and cultural arguments. The technical arguments were presented in a recent paper on the false narrative about the need for deep sea minerals.

On the cultural side our Voice of the Ocean program is creating a coalition of indigenous leaders from across the Pacific to protect our ocean home. This project has had significant impact on the regulations of Deep-Sea Mining, finally giving the indigenous people of the Pacific a voice on this matter.

Tetiaroa Society will soon have submersibles for exploring the deep ocean

And we are heading into the deep… Our Honu Program has begun construction of two 3-person submersibles which will allow research and education programs access to the Mesopelagic Zone between 200 and 1200 meters deep (600-4,000 ft). This is a response to a call to understand and protect this “twilight zone” which contains up to 80% of the biomass of the oceans. We plan to launch these submersibles in 2025.

As always, we are extremely grateful to our close partners, The Brando Resort and the Brando family, and all our donors for their generous support.

If you are interested in helping us protect Tetiaroa, the islands of Oceania, and ocean that sustains us please donate to our work.

We wish you a wonderful end of the year and a productive and happy 2025.

Warm Regards,

Richard Bailey

President, Tetiaroa Society

Tetiaroa Society is a US registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID #45-1080688). We host scientific research, develop and implement conservation and education programs, and curate the island's knowledge base. We partner with The Brando to establish Tetiaroa as a model for sustainability, where businesses, non-profits, scientists, educators and the local community work together for common goals. Our program objectives are summarized in our Conservation and Sustainable Use Plan, which is available on our website.