Downbelow was very happy to welcome Hyatt Regency KK once again to our PADI 5-Star IDC Dive Centre at Gaya Island, Borneo for another day of conservation.

This time the two conservation-minded organizations came together for an independent Project AWARE Ocean Clean-up and Mangrove Planting Day.

The day has been tagged to raise awareness among the staff and spread knowledge through presentations, beach clean-up, mangroves planting and donations to Project AWARE.

As host for the day, Downbelow Managing Director and Platinum PADI Course Director Richard Swann welcomed the 26-strong staff from Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu, a 5-Star Hotel based in the city. Everyone was briefed on the day's event followed by a presentation that talks about marine debris problems, specifically how it is affecting the environment and how they can be tackled.

With everyone acknowledging that there is a problem with marine debris, it was a good time to start the clean-up activity which was held on the beach and along the shorelines. Even the rocky areas were not spared as this is a prime spot for trapping trash !

Everyone took their time picking up trash and before they knew it, it was already lunch time. Everyone came back to the dive centre where lunch was served.

After a short rest,  the next lined-up event was the mangrove planting activity within the swamp areas just near the beach. Sabah Parks, the local authority in charge of overseeing the marine park, assisted on this one.

Mangrove plants are unsung heroes of the environment. Often overlooked by the general public when in actual fact they play an important and positive role within the ecosystem. Mangroves contribute to the ecological balance of nature, shelter for wildlife, place to forage food for little creatures like birds and crabs, reduce water pollution and also protect the coastlines. 

If cleaning the beach was a reactive approach, then planting the mangove saplings was a proactive approach - they are for the future!

After the planting activity was done, we spent some time to shoot cool pictures for the Hyatt photo competition where the winner will get RM5,000 in cash to be distributed to local charities. We are hoping that Hyatt Regency KK will win!

Before the day was done, everyone gathered again to hear the announcement of the official weight of the trash collected in the morning and it came to a whopping 347KG! That's a huge weight off Mother Nature's shoulder. That's just a stark reminder of how much trash is polluting our backyard and why everyone needs to be mindful of their own trash.

Since this was a non-profit day, with both companies supporting the cause, everyone managed to generate a donation of RM1,250.00 (AUD 416.00) for the Project Aware Foundation.

Our day for conservation ended but we hope more activities such as this can be held with other organizations.