YINTAI

On May 30, 2021, the one-year training of the trainees in the 4^th enrolment of the Blue Pioneers Program (BPP) for the Nurturing of Chinese Marine Conservation Talents was officially completed, and 20 trainees graduated successfully.

The BPP was initiated in 2017 by Mr. Shen Guojun, Founder and Honorary President of Yintai Foundation and Executive Chairman of the Paradise Foundation, and is jointly supported by Yintai Foundation, Paradise Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in the United States. The objective is to train top talents for marine conservation in China. In the four years since the program was launched, 80 trainees have received training in marine conservation, public welfare innovation, and management of public welfare organizations. They not only attended invaluable lectures by industry experts, but also had the opportunity to participate in practice in front-line marine conservation organizations. In the course of their training, they were also able to put forward their own ideas on marine conservation and obtain financial support from the program to apply the knowledge they had acquired on marine conservation.

Most of the trainees in the latest enrolment came from front-line marine conservation organizations across the country, such as Better Blue, which is initiated by divers who are passionate about marine conservation, and the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society, which focuses on sustainable fisheries, as well as a new batch of Chinese marine and polar conservation organizations, such as the Chinese Polar Guide Association and Polar Hub.

At the graduation ceremony, the trainees not only displayed the results of their training, and discussed future project planning, but also presented their creative ideas for marine conservation in the future. This latest batch of BPP graduates are set to strengthen front-line marine conservation efforts and bring a much-welcomed boost to China's marine conservation cause.