Project Seven Thousand: Saving the Seas with the Jewelmer Pearl Ambassadors

Vibrant corals shelter exotic tropical fish in the waters of the Philippines

When In Manila, we all need to do our little part in saving our seas and our planet! So take the first step by simply making a pledge to help protect the one and only Mother Earth that we have, before it’s too late.

I just wanted to thank our friends from Jewelmer and Yehey.com for inviting me to this empowering event. Furthermore, I wanted to thank them for the honor of naming me as one of the Pearl Ambassadors, tasked to spread the word about protection of our seas and to inform and educate people about the efforts being done along with how everyone can help.

The Pearl Ambassadors (L-R) Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, Vince Golangco, Hannah Villasis Anna Oposa, Kankan Ramos, Jayvee Fernandez, Estan Cabigas

Pearl Ambassadors Vince Golangco and Kuya Kim Atienza

Saving the planet one pledge at a time

“ I pledge to use mugs instead of disposable cups.”

“ I pledge to recycle. ”

“ I pledge to bring reusable canvass bags when I go shopping and limit my use of plastic bags”

Schools of fish swim freely in the pristine waters of Palawan, testament to the rich marine life that reside in the waters surrounding the Philippines

SEVEN THOUSAND PLEDGES FOR A BETTER TOMORROW: That is the goal of projectseventhousand.org, which was launched on June 15, 2011. This is an initiative of Save Palawan Seas Foundation (SPSF) and is powered by Yehey! Digital Corporation.

“We can do virtually anything online nowadays so why not create positive change in the fight to save the planet?” said Mia Macapagal, project manager of www.projectseventhousand.org. “We believe that environmental stewardship is the responsibility of all and we want to get the message out there in a fun, interactive way.”

“By realizing that each individual can affect the environment the most, we believe that it is everybody’s duty to give back and to stand at the front lines of this initiative,” said YEHEY! General Manager Jay Arellano. “It is with this ideal in mind that we decided to use digital media to collectively enable everyone to deliver the message of Environmental Stewardship to others– children, adults, professionals.”

Conceived as an interactive, social networking site, www.projectseventhousand.org engages everyone to do their part in helping the planet through three simple steps: make pledge an act for the environment , commit to it, and invite friends and family to do the same.

www.projectseventhousand.org also contains numerous articles about the environment, covering topics from conservation, to the carbon footprint, to recycling, to the latest environmental issues. “We believe that forewarned is forearmed,” said Macapagal. “This is why we created the site to be a rich resource where ‘green-minded’ people can learn more about current environmental issues and share the message with their friends and loved ones.”

We know we can make a positive difference in the environment before it is too late. It just takes a collective group of people with the same mission to make that change for the better.

SPSF was founded by pearl farmers Manuel Cojuangco and Jacques Branellec. As pearl farmers passionate about their craft, they also have reverence to the environment around them. Each pearl records the environmental trends and changes over the time it grows in the womb of its mother oyster. Oysters are thus the indicators of a healthy environment and the South Sea Pearl is the testament of pristine conditions. Hence the South Sea Pearl has been proclaimed in 1996 as the Philippine National Gem, a natural symbol of environmental stewardship.

Their commitment to the pearl and the environment inspired the partners to start SPSF. The Save the Palawan Seas Foundation (SPSF) is a non-profit organization, which aims to provide alternative sources of income in coastal communities, through which people could earn money without hurting the environment. The foundation also hoped to help formulate long-term conservation and management strategies for the province’s marine resources, so as to ensure a better life for everyone who depended on the sea to survive.

One Mission. One Planet. Change for the future begins with seven thousand.