Non-Profit: CCMI

This column features a non-profit organisation (NPO) registered in the Cayman Islands. If you’d like your charity to be considered for this column (which means free publicity!) please register your charity as an NPO with General Registry by 31 July 2018.

Little Cayman may have fewer than 200 persons and limited development, but it is the home of a fully operational marine field research station: the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI).

Located on Bloody Bay Wall, which is one of the most pristine marine parks in the region, CCMI’s mission is to sustain healthy corals and vibrant oceans for the future. We drive our vision by:

• protecting and restoring coral reef health (conservation and research);
• empowering women in science (conservation and research); and
• changing the way children learn about the oceans (ocean literacy and education).

CCMI invests in cutting-edge research and then delivers those discoveries to the world, via outreach and education. Science is very much at the heart of what CCMI does, as today we have a specific set of threats that could impact coral reefs forever and only a narrow window to make positive changes.

CCMI’s education programmes include Reefs Go Live, Earthwatch, and Dive with Heroes, as well as ocean literacy programmes for primary- to tertiary-level students. By focusing on women who excel in science, and investing in educating students around the globe (the leaders of tomorrow), CCMI is making headway into our own goals, but there is a mountain to climb on a global scale.

Coral reefs offer a vivid example of how marine systems can be transformed from thriving vibrant eco-systems to degraded landscapes because of high-temperature stress events, hurricanes, or man.

However, reefs can recover from episodic events over relatively short periods of time when ecological balances are intact. CCMI hopes its research team can discover innovative solutions for protecting coral reefs longterm.

CCMI is committed to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG), “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” We believe global leaders, scientists, and stakeholders must nurture and communicate a deeper understanding of the complex interspecies dynamics that determine the balance of life under the sea.

CCMI is a US 501 (c) 3 non-profit and a registered charity in the Cayman Islands and UK. By working with a range of donors, trusts, private companies, government bodies and the general public, in a multilayered approach to protecting the world’s oceans, we know the right investments can help us make a difference for these precious natural resources.

For more information about CCMI, visit www.reefresearch.org or email info@reefresearch.org.

For more information on NPOs, please contact General Registry by emailing paul.inniss@gov.ky.