I Love My Sea, I Love My Land Marine Conservation Education Program at Aquarium Mondo Marino of Massa Marittima for Disabled Children with Social Difficulties

Project location: Italy, Massa Marittima
Project start date: June 2012 - Project end date: April 2013
Project number: 2012-061
Beneficiary: Associazione Posidonia

The project, which received a grant from the Nando Peretti Foundation, wishes to involve disabled and socially challenged students in aquatic and environmental conservation programs, as well as to sensitize on the same issues the public at large.
The recent tragedy of Concordia boat, with high environmental risks associated with it, indicates that more efforts are to raise awareness of the importance of environmental conservation.

The beneficiary organization will select 600 students with disabilities and social difficulties from Tuscany and Lazio to be included in the project, in close cooperation with educational districts, associations and social cooperatives.
The selected students, will visit the Mondo Marino Aquarium of Massa Marittima. The marine biologists will guide them to discover the main ecosystems of the Tyrrhenian coast, the current environmental risks and the actions needed to protect them. Students will experience the touch pool and touch the animals: they will be then aware of the fragility of the environment in which they live.
During the two-hour visit, students will be shown at least 10 daily actions that everyone can apply in reducing pollution, and it will be asked to become "ambassadors of the Tyrrhenian Sea" to protect its rich biodiversity. In the course of the visit it is also scheduled a thorough lesson by an expert on sharks, on the importance of environment conservation and on the ongoing massacre of sharks in the Mediterranean.
A drawing and writing contest will conclude the experience. The winners will enjoy a full day at The Aquarium Mondo Marino, during which they will feed fishes and sharks, analyze the water of aquariums and observe under a microscope zooplankton.