The other morning I was reading the "Espresso" (daily digest) version of The Economist when the following caught my eye: Island Nation of Niue Announces Sponsorship Plan to Protect Territorial Waters. Hmm. After directing our modest annual summer donation to earthquake relief in Haiti (2021) and non-lethal equipment for Ukraine's soldiers (2022), this...
seemed to me an unequivocally positive cause to support with a percentage of Poggiosole's August 2023 gross receipts. I checked the story out on other news outlets and then searched up where and how to send the funds. Turns out that Niue (a self-governing territory of New Zealand) has set up a trust called NOW which is accepting donations in the form of OCCs (Ocean Conservation Commitments), each of which corresponds to the protection of one square kilometer of Niue's territorial waters for "up to 20 years". A single OCC sponsorship costs NZD250 (EUR 142). With our August 2023 invoices totaling €9781 we've signaled an intent to sponsor 4 OCCs (rounding up) for €568. Only hitch: intent is as far as we can take it for now. I could not find the means to donate with a click, as has become the norm. But that's ok. Someone will be in touch sooner or later. And I'm happy to count the NOW Trust as Poggiosole's summer beneficiary for 2023.
Update, October 2: This morning I received an email advising that within the next several days an online means for donating will be available to all who expressed interest in OCC sponsorship.
I suppose mention of the Trust in The Economist and elsewhere created rather more demand than the folks at the Niue Ocean Wide Project were anticipating ☺️
Update, November 2: It took another month, but the folks at the NOW Trust finally got their digital ducks in a row. The Donate Now button flowed to a comprehensive, well-written legal disclaimer, and from there to PayPal through which I was able to make Poggiosole's donation sponsoring four Ocean Conservation Commitments (OCCs), each intended to protect one square kilometer of ocean for up to 20 years 🐋
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