Before the start of the 2024 Magical Kenya Ladies Open, a group of Ladies European Tour (LET) players headed down to Kuruwitu to join the Oceans Alive Trust.
Following the success of last year’s visit, the LET teamed up once again with conservation group Oceans Alive Trust and Kuruwitu Conservation and Welfare CBO to give players the opportunity to visit the marine sanctuary.
The LET is committed to recognising and promoting great sustainable work being done by the LET community as part of the Tour’s initiative LET Celebrating the Green presented by Dow in partnership with GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf.
Three players and one caddie headed down to the beautiful coast to have a look and learn more about the coral protection and restoration project, which was also visited by His Majesty King Charles III and Queen Camilla in November 2023.
Germany’s Leonie Harm, China’s Xiaolin Tian plus Spanish duo Marta Sanz Barrio and Piti Martinez learned more about the coral project specifically the plugs and the tables.
The quartet then snorkelled where they saw the marine life living in the water and were shown how to plant coral plugs in the ocean.
Speaking afterward, Harm said: “I think it’s a cool thing that since we travel all across the globe, especially earlier and later in the year, to see a bit of the places that we go to and to engage with the local communities a little bit and see what they’re all about and what they’re passionate about and the projects they follow. It made a really cool impact on.
“I have snorkelled before, but it was nice to see the sights and scenery on the bottom. We encountered some pretty cool fish and got to see how the coral planting and growing is going and see how they have set up the coral tables.
“It was quite eye-opening to learn about how long it takes to grow coral and it should make all of us a little bit more aware of what we do to our oceans because they’re such a sensitive ecosystem. At the end of the day, it will impact us as well even if we don’t see the immediate connection between the whole process.
“The people at the coral reef were so welcoming and we asked them so many questions, but they answered them all and they were so knowledgeable.”
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