ORGANIZATION´S PROFILE

ECOPLAYAS is a nonprofit civil institution, founded on August 20, 1997 in Lima, Peru in which academics, young universitees, sport fishermen, craft fishermen, campers, and the general public share the objectives of natural coastal conservation and society education for marine enviroment. Since its inception has been dedicated to clean and monitor wild beaches (fifteen years doing cleaning campaigns and giving education in environmental prevention in Paracas National Reserve and throughout the National Seashore) and to keep control in the pollution by talking to the users in order to stop the throwing of garbage on the beaches. Since 2000 a project was conducted along the coast for the creation of a new protected areas and in 2007 started working in a technical file, with the Peruvian state, getting in December 16th, 2010 a Reserved Area: Illescas Peninsula Sechura-Piura, continuing working to make it a National Reserve. Maintains Coastal Observation volunteering network correspondents in 22 points of the peruvian coast, who warn of attacks on ecology in their areas and operate as activists doubling awareness campaigns and users education. Their financial resources are contributions of their own members in volunteering work, money donations and the financing ofspecific projects sponsored by private companies that are concerned on the environmental conservation. Ecoplayas is legally recognized by the State of Peru as a host organization for international cooperation. Since 2007 organized annually the PREMIO ECOPLAYAS® to reward that best beach in various categories, the use and management is done according to the principles of environmental sustainability, protecting biodiversity, ecosystem and morphology of natural erosion or caused by human constructions. These competion evaluates factors that have been developed for the competition and actually are certified parameters.