| The
diving industry, under all its aspects, is based
on an element too often underestimated: the
thrilling for the discovery of our planet’s
underwater world. This curiosity will raise and
facilitate all the diving industry when using
enthusiastic expressions to describe underwater
environments, promoting their charming aspects
and increasing seas awareness. Unfortunately
the above mentioned isn’t always the case;
often news on pollution level is dreadful and the
media displays the “water” element as
worry maker rather than a relaxing and fun
resource. This analysis
must give birth to a deeper reflection on the
actual situation causes. Surely we could explain
different reasons and elements involved in these
negative circumstances and make a list of events
that, more or less, have impact on the underwater
environment; however we want to condense
everything in one word that represents the true
cause of this alarming ecological situation: Man!
The
human impact during the latest decades provoked
damages, sometimes irreversibly. But thanks to
new and better relation between man and sea, it
will be possible to give the right value and
importance to underwater environments of our
planet.
Regarding this new awareness, divers have a
special role: while other humans have only an
indirect knowledge about this ecosystem, divers
enter, even temporary, this underwater world
visiting and observing a rich variety of animal
and vegetable species and shapes.
At the same time, divers become the first and
direct witnesses of the negative impact some
human actions can provoke. Diving regularly at
the same dive site, divers can understand and be
aware of every positive or
negative alteration that human impact can produce
and, because of this, they can help planning
new protection patterns to maintain and improve
underwater environmental conditions. During
the last years, there is development of a tighter
collaboration between environmental
organizations, public authorities, scientific
field and diving community. It’s easy to
understand how those organizations can have more
success with their initiatives only with divers
support and direct observation. This is the
reason why it’s so strong the need of new
divers more and more aware of their role of
underwater” guardians”. From the
academic preparation to the practical diving
training, from the creation of specific programs
to the conception of educational material,
everything has been planned and produced with the
purpose to train divers with a high awareness of
their environmental responsibilities and proper
underwater world knowledge.
For ESA,
the environment education is not just linked to
some specific diving specialty about this field;
environmental knowledge and protection concept
has been extended to every training section and
integrated with other information related to any
course level. This
takes place during ESA Professional training too,
because ESA instructors have the task to train
the kind of divers as above. They have the
responsibility to plan and conduct diving
activities for divers, single or in a group,
willing to visit the best reefs in different
spots of our planet. A diving professional knows
the importance of an uncontaminated environment.
He is perfectly aware how the decay of a diving
attractive level related to a particular site can
affect the number of divers willing to dive
there. In conclusion, a diving professional knows
how much the environmental protection theme is
joined, till to become a unit, to the defense of
those environmental conditions on which his
diving activity is based. ESA professional
training system has been projected bearing these
environmental considerations in mind: preparing
Diveleader more and more trained and conscious of
divers impact on underwater bottom and
inhabitants, and instructors more and more aware
to not just train divers to dive in complete
safety but also to teach them how to appreciate
and better understand the underwater environment
they are going to visit. ESA Instructor Course
Directors are trained to transmit to future
instructors the full meaning of their
responsibility on accomplishing their profession.
These are
the targets of ESA diving training system.
9
simple rules to respect the environment
|
