Save the Ocean - Protect the Future

High Altitude, Deep Impact: Alpine Lakes Are Not Immune to Plastic

To all my supporters,

When we think of aquatic plastic pollution, our minds almost automatically go to the ocean. However, the reality is that our freshwater ecosystems are just as vulnerable, even the ones that look pristine from the shore.

Recently, our team from the No Deco Diving School visited Lake Lamar, a stunning alpine lake nestled in the Trentino-Alto Adige mountains. What was meant to be a simple recreational dive quickly required a shift in focus. Beneath the beautiful, calm surface, we discovered a completely different reality: everyday plastic waste and picnic debris littering the lakebed.

As a PADI Divemaster and PADI/DAN Ocean Literacy Instructor, I firmly believe that every time we enter the water, we have a duty to protect it. We couldn't just swim past. We immediately turned our dive into an underwater clean-up, recovering and safely removing as much debris as our buoyancy control would allow.

This experience is a powerful reminder of why local action and continuous environmental education are so critical. It’s also exactly why your support for the PADI AWARE Foundation matters. The global tools, conservation campaigns, and databases funded by your donations empower divers like us to take concrete action—whether we are exploring the vast ocean or a high-altitude alpine lake.

Please consider making a contribution to my fundraising campaign. No matter the amount, your donation directly fuels our mission to remove aquatic debris and preserve these fragile ecosystems.

Thank you for being a true defender of the underwater world!

PADI AWARE Week 2026: Citizen Science in Action at Lake Garda 💧

To all my supporters, as we wrap up PADI AWARE Week 2026, I want to share a direct update from our local waters to show you exactly what your contributions are helping to achieve.

This weekend, in my capacity as a PADI Divemaster, I had the privilege of leading a dedicated Biodiversity Survey dive in Lake Garda alongside the No Deco Diving School, a recognized PADI Eco Center.

The most encouraging news from our dive was the environmental feedback itself. Our monitoring revealed an incredibly healthy aquatic environment: we surveyed clean lakebeds with absolutely no ghost nets, recovering only a single pair of lost glasses. This highly positive result is a powerful testament to the impact of continuous environmental education and preventive conservation.

This is exactly the kind of fieldwork your donations support. By contributing to this fundraiser, you empower the PADI AWARE Foundation to provide the global tools, scientific protocols, and databases—like the Action Portal where our survey data is systematically logged—that make this local citizen science possible.

Thank you for standing with me to protect our aquatic ecosystems. Every contribution fuels our mission to keep our waters clean, monitored, and safe for future generations.

Update Title: From Theory to Action: Citizen Science in Lake Garda

As the creator of this fundraiser and an active member of No Deco Diving School (the only PADI Eco Center in Northern Italy), I want to share a real-world update on what we are actively doing in the field to protect our aquatic ecosystems.

Conservation isn’t just about words; it’s about science and action. Just recently, we took the PADI / DAN Ocean Literacy Diver project into the water—an educational and scientific initiative recognized by UNESCO and perfectly aligned with the goals of the UN Ocean Decade.

During our latest dives in Lake Garda, we didn’t just explore; we put actual "Citizen Science" protocols into practice:

🧪 Water Quality Monitoring: We used refractometers and colorimetric tests to analyze the health of our freshwater environment. These essential parameters were sent directly to DAN Europe's researchers to feed their continuous monitoring database.

🐟 Biodiversity Survey: We conducted a rigorous biodiversity census on the lakebed. And this is exactly where your support for this fundraiser comes in: all the data we gathered has been uploaded directly to the PADI AWARE Foundation's Global Action Portal.

Why is your support so crucial? Supporting this campaign means funding the PADI AWARE Foundation, the organization that provides us with global tools like the Action Portal and consistently backs the local conservation efforts of divers worldwide. It means empowering those of us who get in the water not just out of passion, but with a mission to explore, understand, and protect our environment—whether it’s the vast ocean or our precious freshwater lakes.

Every single donation helps sustain these vital research programs and allows us to train a new generation of environmentally conscious divers and students.

Thank you to everyone who chooses to contribute to this cause, no matter the amount

PADI Women's Dive Day 2026

Thank you for visiting my PADI AWARE Foundation fundraising page!

On July 18th, we celebrated the PADI Women's Dive Day 2026 at Castelletto di Brenzone (Lake Garda). As an active staff member of the No Deco Diving School ASD—a proud PADI Eco Center—I had the honor of being the main organizer of this global event, backed by the incredible support of our staff and alongside our friends at Il Faro Azzurro Scuola Subacquea. We united to celebrate female inclusion in diving and, most importantly, to take direct action for our local ecosystem.

Backed by the Patronage of the Municipality of Brenzone sul Garda and the official presence of CRESSI, our amazing female divers led the charge in a comprehensive PADI Dive Against Debris survey.

Fortunately, we didn't find an overwhelming amount of small litter, proving that the local diving community actively protects these waters. However, the debris we did remove and log into the PADI AWARE Action Portal highlights a much bigger issue:

• 1 massive truck tire (safely recovered using a lift bag)

• Hotel sunbeds (swept into the lake by recent, violent storms)

• Fishing lines and hooks

• Various glass and plastic bottles, iron, and plywood

Our findings send a clear message. The extreme weather events that washed those sunbeds into the lake are a direct consequence of climate change, which is hitting our local communities and fragile aquatic ecosystems hard. By promoting the PADI/DAN Ocean Literacy program in alignment with the UN Ocean Decade, we want to raise awareness that climate change and water pollution are deeply connected. Extracting heavy, degrading materials from the lakebed prevents toxic pollutants and microplastics from destroying local biodiversity.

Climate change is a tangible reality, and we must all do our part.

Why donate? Your contribution to the PADI AWARE Foundation directly supports local conservation efforts, cleanups, and global initiatives to protect our waters. Every single donation helps us turn more divers into environmental sentinels through Citizen Science.

Please consider making a donation today. Together, we can make a difference for our planet!