We are pleased to interview CEO and director of Ylemer, Islam Abdullah to talk about what changes he likes to create.
What major problems have you noticed around you?
Islam Abdullah: I really care about nature. It’s sad to see human beings have been doing too many activities which are actively destroying the planet where we live.
As a scuba diver, I love the ocean, the amazing landscape with all the different types of marine life species, corals, an entire ecosystem which is teeming with unusual diversified colourful life. It is really sad to see all of the pollution, overfishing, oil spills and much more which clearly and constantly impacting the ocean, and it is only has been getting worse over a short period of time due to human’s activities.
With few encounters, I had while diving, it has been raising my concern even more than we need to take action and to immediately stop being such oblivious of what’s happening, and just following the same acts without considering starting changing our behaviours.
Once while I was diving, I saw a suffering moray eel which was hooked by a fishing line, I attempted to rescue it, however, unfortunately, it managed to escape without being rescued. What has this eel done for it to get caught and suffer who knows for how long it is going to live with this hook due to human’s ‘enjoyment’? At the end of the day, this eel is still a living being, and deserve to have a healthy life.
On another occasion, we have decided to go ‘fishing lines collection’ dive, eventually, the entire diving bag was entirely full, we could not believe that!
To Sum it up, one time I got tangled with fishings line, it was quite difficult to set myself free from these lines, lucky that my diving buddy was close by, so I had to pull his fines calling for rescue by cutting off these lines.
The ocean is continuously becoming more unsafe for both wildlife and humans, only due to human’s daily activities.
If human being continues to do what we are doing, this planet won’t be the planet that same magnificent planet we knew once, and we won’t be able to live in any more, and most importantly, nor many of other creatures which we share this planet with.
What change do you like to see?
Islam Abdullah: Human should be more considerate of their action and the ‘Non-Immediate’ impact which we create no matter what we do. To make a change, we can start small, from our own circle.
We need a conscience education system that creates urgent awareness about all the daily bad habits such as consuming and disposing of plastic products, these simple actions could create a long term impact. It is horrifying to think about the garbage patch this has been accumulating over many years, and our current behaviours haven’t significantly changed yet.
We must put a stop over manufacturing and the demand for plastic products. This must start Now!
How are you contributing right now to this cause?
Islam Abdullah: Firstly, increasing awareness is important. I often communicate with my immediate circle about what’s really happening, also every time I go for walks by the ocean, diving or swimming I actively collect all plastics I encounter to dispose them appropriately.
I have been doing much research about SDGs (sustainability development goals), I share this with my team, and get them to start talking and share what they really care about most to encourage them taking actions. I am actively looking for organizations which I can add my value to which genuinely want to create an immediate impact by ACTION.
My main aspiration is to be able to find and sponsor entrepreneurs who are truly working on innovative solutions which could transform the way we do things for a better planet.
How do you see Ylemer’s role?
Islam Abdullah: With the online platform that we are building, we are bringing like-minded people together who care about the same cause to share their voice and the projects that they are working on. Our community provides support in different areas for whom who need it to progress further with their planes and assisting them to achieve their goals. I believe that by bringing relevant people together to an important cause to collaborate and inspire each other can make a difference.
We are focusing on startups that driven by a purpose and have great potential to adopt sustainability into their core business and provide them with all the necessary support, if either by providing high quality and accessible mentorship programs, introducing them to the right contact that they need and any other forms of support that will help them to succeed on their mission. We are looking for organizations and individuals who are aligned with our mission to join the force and to find possible ways to work collaboratively towards creating a larger impact in the lights of our same cause.
Originally published on Medium.com