How to Meet the Criteria of Sustainability Recognition Programmes

If you are reading this post, then you are most likely hoping that your operation (dive centre, snorkelling business, or liveaboard) will meet the criteria of sustainability recognition programmes such as the PADI Eco Center to help your operation stand out from the crowd and have your sustainable efforts recognised.

In a recent Reef-World survey, the study reveals dive tourists are looking for environmental education and are willing to pay more for sustainable options whilst on holiday. However, they are holding back on spending more due to the risk of contributing money towards “greenwashing” as there are businesses that present themselves as environmentally friendly but that aren’t really the case.

It is clear that the marine tourism industry needs a brand-conscious, transparent and effective global green label to address that. Green Fins is the world’s first independent certificate to stop the environmental impact from marine-based tourism. The Green Fins membership process looks at a tourism business holistically, avoiding the risk of providing an eco-label built upon greenwashing.

Steps for Green Fins Certified Members to meet criteria for recognition

For Green Fins Certified Members, you’ll need to have registered your operation (find out how) on the Green Fins Hub and achieved Certified Silver or Certified Gold certification from an in-person assessment in the last 12 months. Certified Members are seen as role models of the Green Fins community who can spread important environmental messages and share best practices. So, while not required for the recognition, we encourage Certified Members to participate in the forum actively.

Steps for Green Fins Digital Members to meet criteria for recognition

For Green Fins Digital Members, your journey also starts with registering your operation on the Green Fins Hub. Digital membership has three score components: Self-Evaluation, Action Plan and Community, each with its own scoring.

Next, complete the self-evaluation and agree to your first action plan to unlock access to all Hub functionality such as the solutions library and Community Forum. You must have made progress in your action plan to show commitment towards improving your environmental performance. Log your progress to increase your operation’s action plan score (you can add teammates to help!). We suggest aiming to complete one action point per quarter to stay on track and tangibly improve your environmental performance to protect the marine environment.

You must also be engaged in the Community Forum to share your experience, learn from the network and be part of a wider change for the future sustainability of the global diving industry. You can earn Waves 🌊 for your operation by reading, creating or posting in topics — see the real-time leaderboard to see your score and position. Please visit the Community Forum at least once per quarter to stay connected.

Digital Members self-manage their sustainability journey. So, you will need to make progress in all three scoring components to meet the criteria for sustainability recognition programmes. Once your environmental performance meets a minimum threshold, and you engage as outlined above over the course of the membership period with the community and action plan, then you are on track to meeting the criteria for recognition!

If you have any questions or need help, please contact info@greenfins.net for assistance.