The beginning of the summer in Camarones marks a significant change this year in the environmental agenda of Chubut. While tourist activities take place on the coast, a group of local youths decided to take the lead in ocean care, transforming a recreational space into a platform for training environmental leaders.
The Club del Mar has already started visiting towns like Rada Tilly and Comodoro Rivadavia, aiming to identify and train people interested in replicating the model in their communities. The intention is to weave a coastal network of marine education, where training and environmental awareness are the driving force for protection.
Local identity as a key to communication
For Shari Bocca, a leader of the space, the identity of the instructors is fundamental:
“It is very important that someone who lives near the sea, enjoys it, and values it can convey that message to the younger ones.”
In cities where much of the popular knowledge is transmitted orally, young people become legitimate and effective spokespersons for the natural environment.
A seedbed of environmental educators
The movement is strengthened by its internal renewal. In Camarones, the virtuous cycle turns yesterday’s student into today’s teacher.
- Youths who were students two years ago are now teachers at the Club del Mar.
- The training includes water safety, marine biology, leadership, and comprehensive care for children and adolescents.
- This process professionalizes youthful enthusiasm and strengthens the personal confidence of the instructors.
Bocca acknowledged that the experience allowed her to grow:
“The Club del Mar helped me a lot to open up because we cannot convey a message with confidence if we are not confident in ourselves.”
The multiplier effect in families
Environmental education generates a cultural change in households. Children convey knowledge about biodiversity and responsible habits to their parents:
- Parents surprised to learn about local marine species thanks to their children.
- Changes in daily habits, such as picking up litter or avoiding throwing cigarette butts on the beach.
- Early vocations: children dreaming of becoming biologists or working with whales, and teenagers volunteering in club activities.
A vision for the future
The projection of the Club del Mar is ambitious:
- Train new leaders in the south of the province.
- Consolidate a marine education network that strengthens conservation.
- Influence preservation policies to create more protected areas that defend the sea and its biodiversity.
“I hope this education network continues to grow, we can achieve great things. The more marine education there is, the more desire to protect there will be,” Bocca stated.
The youth movement in Camarones demonstrates that community environmental education can become a driver of social and political change.
The youth of Chubut are being trained to lead the future of marine conservation, with a vision that transcends the summer season and aims to consolidate a sustainable coastal protection model.
