Hi there fellow paddling friends! Its time to Paddle for the Planet and I need your help.

First things first: What is Paddle for the Planet?
It is an idea we have to raise awareness about the terrible things that is happening in the Ocean we use daily. We want all paddlers to be aware of what’s going on in our oceans and want to create an opportunity to make a difference. We want to allow all paddlers the opportunity to help. So, Paddle for the Planet’s aim is to support Marine conservation. As it grows we endevour to support all kinds of Marine Conservation but for this year and the next we are going to raise funds for a marine reserve in Raja Ampat, Indonesia and keep it protected. Each year we want to grow this idea branching out further and further as more paddlers get involved keeping more and more waters protected.

Some things for you to be aware of:
* Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world’s oceans as the weight of fish caught. (www.marinebio.org)

* 32% of the world’s fisheries are overexploited, depleted or recovering, which threatens the health, economy, and livelihoods of communities all over the world. The global fishing fleet is estimated to be 250% larger than needed to catch what the ocean can sustainably produce. (www.marinebio.org)

* Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark’s fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water). Shark fins are being ”harvested” in ever greater numbers to feed the growing demand for shark fin soup, an Asian ”delicacy”. (www.stopsharkfinning.net)

How does it all work on the 5th of June: (And this is World Environment Day too)

We want there to be paddlers paddling for the planet in Every Time Zone on that day! 10km! 1 or 2 people paddling is enough! Now, to get this WORLD WIDE paddle happening we need your help!

What do we need from you?
1.) Start or Join a P4P group in your area! If you can’t find a group in your area then start one. You be the ”Leader” and get all your friends to join you.

2.) Download/Ask for/Get the Paddle for the Planet logo and put it on some t-shirts, stickers, your blogs….whatever, go wild

3.) LET US KNOW who and where you are AND YOUR TIME ZONE. Please give your Time Zone in relation to Greenwich Mean Time without daylight saving (i.e. GMT-1). There are LOTS of time zones that need a “paddling leader” PLEASE look through these (below) and send to paddling friends all over the world to spread the word.

On the day of the paddle:
1.) We need you to take a pic of your Paddle for the Planet team and email it to us the very next day so we can put pics up spread the word some more!

2.) Donations: This year the focus is on getting the paddlers to paddle for the Planet, however any donations that are more than welcome. We will supply donation details shortly.

OK, so right now, spread the word, email your friends, paddling connections and get the word out there! Lets be the change!

Dawid Mocke