The collaboration promises to bring essential resources and global attention to the conservation of ocean species and ecosystems. As the world faces increasing challenges in preserving ocean biodiversity, this partnership is a significant step towards a sustainable and thriving ocean.

SeaTheFuture is a movement dedicated to fundraising for ocean conservation, uniting people from across the globe to support our oceans. Their mission is to empower individuals to take action for causes they believe in, fostering simplicity, efficiency, and transparency in the field of ocean conservation.

Assunção Loureiro, Managing Director of SeaTheFuture, stated, "Ocean conservation projects around the world work tirelessly to protect and restore our ocean, yet often face financial challenges in supporting their critical work. SeaTheFuture believes that, together, people worldwide can and want to do more for ocean conservation."

To engage the public, SeaTheFuture creates diverse forms of content to help projects communicate their work and impact in an accessible manner. Supporters are regularly updated on their chosen project's progress, enabling them to witness the impact of their contributions firsthand.

During the pilot phase, SeaTheFuture integrated eight projects spanning Africa, Asia, and the Americas, raising approximately 50.000€, with some projects having already received and invested the funding.

Joining this movement is simple. Individuals can participate by donating to a project through a one-time donation or a monthly subscription, with 85% of the contribution directly benefitting the chosen conservation project. The remaining 15% supports SeaTheFuture in creating content, fundraising, and networking to attract more contributors. There's also an option to purchase eco-friendly apparel, with 10% of the retail price directed to users' selected conservation projects.

For conservation projects interested in joining SeaTheFuture, the process involves filling out a brief application form followed by a discussion with the conservation team to further explore project activities. Projects must work on a critical marine habitat or with a threatened species; and should be looking for funding to scale or consolidate their work rather than to establish it.

The IUCN SSC sees value in the proposal of SeaTheFuture as it is potentiating an alternate source of funding towards ocean conservation. The work carried out is addressing two problems often experienced by conservation projects- funding and communication. Often, there is not enough funding in project budgets for communication, unfortunately, this can make it more difficult for projects to communicate the importance of their work to a wide audience in modern and effective ways. In SeaTheFuture, an experienced media and communications team will work with the projects to create diverse forms of content to engage with their growing community.

To take on donations, SeaTheFuture created a friendly platform for the public to easily become involved with projects. Importantly, every project has its own ‘bank’ of monthly subscriptions, a very effective way to work with donations that is harder for smaller grassroots projects to create.

According to Erich Hoyt, Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC-WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, “SeaTheFuture is a promising new platform to raise funds for fundamental work to support threatened species and ecosystems in the global Ocean. We have a yawning need for support in so many coastal communities and this approach to fund grass-roots field studies can really help”.
 
For more information about SeaTheFuture and to support their mission, visit www.seathefuture.eu.

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About SeaTheFuture: a global movement dedicated to fundraising for ocean conservation, uniting individuals worldwide to support impactful ocean projects. Their goal is to inspire society to take concrete actions for ocean conservation and make a positive impact on the world's oceans.