By John Roberts
In a small fishing village in the Philippines, a gentle giant of a marine creature has shown the way for how eco-tourism can be a sustainable force of economic and societal change.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and the World Wildlife Fund together on Jan. 25 held up the village of Donsol, which is known for the whale sharks that occupy the waters in its bay, as proof of what can be done when stakeholders in the environment, communities and business work together.
Royal Caribbean and the WWF, the conservation organization, announced a five-year partnership to work toward ensuring the health of the world’s oceans.
The cruise company was spurred to seek a partner in its environmental initiatives after an employee survey revealed that crew across Royal Caribbean’s lines, which include Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara, overwhelmingly chose taking care of the oceans if they could pick just one thing that they wanted the cruise company to make a priority.
“These are important goals,” said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises. “Our employees expect us to do it.”
The company employees 11,000 Filipino crew members, about 16 percent of all ship employees, and by far the largest nationality.
Donsol has thrived on tourism related to whale shark interactions since the community embraced a 1998 law in the Philippines that outlawed hunting of the world’s largest fish (average size is 25 feet long). Regulations allow visitors to swim with whale sharks, but only in their natural habitat and with supervision of specially trained guides.
WWF has worked with the community to establish its eco-tourism, and Royal Caribbean donated $200,000 to WWF Philippines to advance efforts in Donsol to enhance its conservation program. The money remained from donations raised by Royal Caribbean after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013 and was set aside to dedicate to a long-term relief effort after an initial $1 million from Royal Caribbean and $200,000 donated by passengers and crew went to immediate relief.
Donsol serves as a success story and as an inspiration for the new collaboration between Royal Caribbean and WWF.
The partnership is based on establishing targets. Royal Caribbean benefits from WWF’s expertise and being held accountable to meet specific publicly declared targets that move the needle, Fain says.
Royal Caribbean will donate $5 million to WWF over the five years, and the collaboration will work toward three main targets.
– Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent (from a 2005 baseline) by 2020
– Responsibly source 90 percent of its wild-caught seafood from sustainable fisheries and 75 percent of its farmed seafood in Europe and North America by 2020
– Develop measures and improve selection for destinations with regard to sustainability and responsible tourism
As for that third point, Royal Caribbean and WWF say they will announce new targets by June 30 that will get specific in how they plan to address that destination stewardship.
Additionally, WWF and Royal Caribbean aim to improve awareness and engage passengers about ocean conservation through content provided by WWF. Royal Caribbean Cruises immediately will begin placing WWF magazines in staterooms on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara ships and plans to offer programming on stateroom TVs.
“We want to give passengers tools to use to help them think about the environment,” WWF CEO Carter Roberts said. “The threats facing the ocean are greater than ever – We must take serious steps to repair, restore and protect the oceans.”
