“Rescue Toby!” is the battle cry of the Young Eco-Warrior Movement, which Path Foundation Philippines and partners are working hard to promote with funding support from the Disney company’s Friends for Change program and other sponsors.
Young Eco-Warriors are Filipino teenagers that live in remote coastal islands and whose families depend on fishing for food and jobs. But now their lives are being threatened by persons and companies that use cyanide to catch aquarium fish which are then shipped to the USA and Europe for sale to unsuspecting customers like you. Cyanide fishing is very destructive to the environment and destroys the fragile coral reef habitats that are home to beautify tropical fish, like the Black-saddled Toby (left). Without a healthy reef, the Toby fish can not survive and reproduce.
The Young Eco-Warriors are reaching out to children globally with information about how demand for aquarium fish is fueling the problem and contributing to the destruction of reef habitats in the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other Asian countries. But they need your help to put a stop to cyanide fishing.
With these simple steps, you too can become an Eco-Warrior!
- Refrain from buying aquarium fish or ask for “cyanide-free” fish from retailers and stores
- Treasure the aquarium fish you may already own and use them to motivate your friends to become Eco-Warriors
- Ask for help from parents and grandparents to spread the word
- Write blogs and articles to educate people about the problem and what can be done to “Rescue Toby!” and save coral reef habitats in Asia.
Eco-warriors can learn about the very dangerous effects that cyanide has on coral reefs, aquarium fish and human being by downloading the following article which is free from Scientific American. www.scientificamerican.com
We invite you to view the following video which tells the story of the Youth Eco-Warriors on Cuyo Island and how they are educating people in their communities about marine conservation and the dangers of cyanide fishing.