The Living Ocean is a non-profit foundation registered in the Netherlands.

How it all started…..

After 15 years in beautiful Zanzibar, Yong Mi was ready to move on and go back to Europe. But the reason she stayed such a long time in Zanzibar was the love of the ocean and the underwater world. Even in a remote place like Zanzibar she could see the changes over the years. The first years it was an underwater paradise with many healthy corals, plenty of turtles, sharks, rays and schools of fishes. After 10 years she already saw the decline in fish, corals and turtles. When she saw first easily 20-40 turtles in one day that changed to 1 turtle in 1 month after 15 years! This broke her heart and she investigated how this all happened!

The local community, where most of the people are not educated, were eating turtles and poaching the eggs. She found out by organising meetings with the head villagers and when teaching them more about the marine life and turtles they were willing to listen. She interviewed many fishermen in 6 villagers about how much fish and turtles there were 15 years ago and now. Even the fishermen
were wondering where the fish was?

Yong Mi started with 2 marine biologists Ludovic and Laura a Turtle Hatchery where we re-locate the eggs of the turtles to make sure they don’t get poached.

Of course we involve the local community because at the end this is for their future and the next generation too.

Once back in The Netherlands a non-profit foundation has been set up. The Living Oceans that conserves, develops and protects marine eco systems.

We want to support many projects in Zanzibar and in other countries all around the world.

The Living Ocean is dedicated to conservation, development and protection of marine- ecosystems and all the flora and fauna within. We do this by supporting small, local projects and initiatives.

We like to involve the local community for sustainable solutions.Their involvement by contributing and understanding the importance of protecting the marine ecosystems will generate benefits in the future.Through training , education and employment The Living Ocean is changing attitudes towards conservation and the communities are becoming aware of the need to conserve for future generations.

As a non-profit organization, The Living Ocean deeply values the trust that has been placed in us. Partners trust us when carrying out local projects and donors trust us to use their funds to advance conservation. To safeguard this critical trust, The Living Ocean is committed to the following principles: respect, transparency and accountability.

The board members do not receive remuneration in any kind. Only actual expenses incurred may be reimbursed.

We will publish the annual accounts according to the Dutch guidelines for fund generating foundations.

We have the Dutch ANBI status. Please contact us if you like to take advantage of fiscal friendly donations.

Have you always wanted to volunteer for a NGO in marine conservation? Read more or contact: info@thelivingocean.org

We are transparent in the way we operate, which projects we support and how we use the money that is put in our care. We provide information on projects we support and will evaluate effectiveness during and after the projects. 

We will publish our annual accounts according to the Dutch guidelines for fund generating foundations. We are a charitable organization and have been awarded the ANBI certification, a Dutch certification for public benefit organizations where at least 90% of all donations is spent on the good.

Donors could deduct their gift from Dutch income or corporation tax. 

The Living Ocean is committed to work with other like-minded organizations. Our impact is much bigger when we collaborate with local NGO’s who are better placed to understand the local community and have knowledge how to approach the problems and guide towards the solution.

We prefer to sponsor smaller, local projects that make a tangible difference to local marine life and local communities. We interact with the local NGO’s and are capable of adjusting midcourse to achieve the best results.

Through social media, our website and our network we have a large reach, and are impacting our network of fans, sponsors and advocates by raising awareness and changing behaviors.

We respect local communities living near the sea and depending for their livelihood on the sea. We strive to work with them, raise awareness and achieve a more sustainable way of living. 

We respect our partner NGO’s, work with them and trust them to come up with the best solutions and projects fitting the local circumstances. 

We respect our network of friends, donors and volunteers who join us in our mission to protect marine life.