Celebrating the Official Inauguration of Innoceana Ojochal
As part of this activity, a temporary art exhibition captured by US-based marine conservationist and photographer Andy Mann was set up. Mann —who works with organizations such as National Geographic and SeaLegacy— donated his art pieces so they could be bought by whoever wanted them. The money raised will be used in various Innoceana projects , an organization that, being a non-profit, is largely sustained through donations and funds raised in marine conservation expeditions. In the future, this gallery will also serve as a means of disseminating the work of artists from the community, without the need for them to donate their creations (unless they wish to).
The event featured heartwarming speeches by the NGO leaders: Laura Vanopdenbosch —Project Director—(now Research Director), Carlos Mallo Molina —CEO—, Yulian Cordero —Operations Director—(now Community Director), and Karyna Duran —Development Director—. The renowned marine conservationist Randall Arauz, the photographer Andy Mann, the painter Carlos Hiller and Pipa from The Vegan Pirates —co-producer of “Entangled in Costa Rica“, an award-winning documentary created in collaboration with Innoceana— also shared a few words.
To close the evening, several videos were shown on the work that Innoceana has been carrying out in Costa Rica, Spain and the United States. The first audiovisual consisted of an interview with Lourdes Rojas, a Boruca artist who designed and created the mask that welcomes everyone at the center’s Reception. This artwork is of paramount importance as it symbolizes the organization’s respect for the native peoples of the area, ancestral guardians of these lands and their idiosyncrasies. The second video screened was “Entangled in Costa Rica”, a documentary that narrates the events experienced by the Innoceana team when rescuing a whale entangled with its calf in almost five kilometers of fishing nets.
In the long term, Innoceana dreams of replicating this institutional model in other parts of the country and even the world. The ocean’s health is an effort that requires joint work with the population, nations, environmental entities and international organizations.
With this event, people’s warmth and the community’s involvement, Innoceana Ojochal’s doors were officially opened to welcome everyone willing to get involved in the protection, restoration and conservation of marine ecosystems, on which not only marine species depend on, but also all animals, plants, minerals and humans on the planet.
