Flavio Scotto d’Abusco’s story begins with adventure. In 2006, he had been travelling the world with a group of friends by backpack, wandering from country to country booking flights as he went. During a 12-day stop in the Perhentian Islands of Malaysia, Flavio and his friends – avid sportsmen – stumbled upon a dive shop offering scuba lessons. It was then that Flavio took his first open water scuba course, where he was blown away by the magnificence of the underwater ecosystems he encountered. Ever the traveller, he continued his explorations and just two years later found himself in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, enrolling in an advanced scuba diving course. He says that from that moment, he “found a new world.” Flavio quickly completed twenty dives and determined to follow his newly discovered dream: a career in scuba diving.

Upon returning home to Rome, Italy, Flavio immersed himself in the world of scuba, taking classes to improve his skills and advance his rank – in 2010, he became a certified scuba instructor and professional diver. And just in the last year, he opened his own diving center with two close friends and colleagues: Pro Diving. In all his years as a scuba diver, Flavio has been a passionate advocate for marine conservation. It was the beautiful sea life in Malaysia’s Perhentian Islands, after all, that prompted him to begin diving in the first place.

During one particular dive in the Red Sea, Flavio was shocked to recover pieces of an engine and fuel oils underwater. It was then that he resolved to become a committed Dive Against Debris™ participant and marine activist – he quickly partnered with Project AWARE and has been one of our most dedicated volunteers ever since!

Over the years, Flavio has been a leader in many of Project AWARE’s campaigns, including our past Extinction is Not an Option campaign to protect sharks in 2013, ongoing 10 Tips for Diver to Protect the Ocean Planet pledge, numerous Dive Against Debris surveys, and most recently, our current #Divers4SharksNRays campaign to protect vulnerable shark and ray species and Adopt a Dive Site™. One of his favorite programs is Adopt a Dive Site, which he joined at the program’s launch on Earth Day earlier this year. The program goals really speak to Flavio’s natural inclination to consistently monitor the dive sites he so loves. Through monthly monitoring and Dive Against Debris surveys, Flavio cares for his local dive site at Lake Bracciano in Italy. He’s seen an immediate positive impact, and hopes to encourage others to get involved in work to combat marine debris.

Flavio explains, “I think it’s important to fight marine debris. We wouldn’t like to see trash in our streets or in our house, so why would we want it to be in the sea or lakes? I don’t think it’s different. Every time I see a fish or other sea life entangled in plastic debris, my heart bleeds.”

Enthusiastic about the positive impact he’s already seeing in his locally adopted dive site, Flavio hopes to continue to adopt more dive sites in the future.

Project AWARE would like to thank Flavio for his dedication to ocean protection and involvement in our conservation campaigns over the years. Want to get involved in Project AWARE’s work? Check out Adopt a Dive Site, #Divers4SharksNRays and our 10 Tips for Divers pledge today.