THE PLACE YOU’RE PROTECTING
With your choice of Clean Waves Archetype sunglasses, you’re helping to protect Cayo Tururu in the Dominican Republic.
Part of a group of low, outlying islands, Cayo Tururu is a haven for wildlife including seabirds like the Sooty Tern and Bridled Tern, the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle and a subspecies of Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia chlora) found nowhere else on Earth.
Island: Cayo Tururu, DR
Distance from shore: ~5km
Population: 0
A REMOTE WORLD
Cayo Tururu is part of the Cayos Siete Hermanos – meaning ‘seven brothers’ – a group of uninhabited islands on the northwest coast of the Dominican Republic.
Washed down into the ocean from the nearby Dajabón and Yaque del Norte rivers, plastic pollution from deep inland drifts out to these islands, accumulating in the sand and along the treeline – threatening their fragile ecosystems and the endemic and endangered marine species who depend on them.
PLASTIC IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Located on the eastern side of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti, the Dominican Republic is an island nation of 10.6 million people, bisected by over 25 major rivers.
Above the waves, sparkling sandy beaches give way to lush, forested mountains – many with large protected natural areas. Below the surface, various coral reefs dot the southern coast, and the waters around the Cayos Siete Hermanos.
“When we first explored there a few years ago, we realized no one cleans there,” explains Eddy Vásquez of Parley DR. “There are many challenges to working out there – when we clean up, we often find more and more plastic buried in the sand, and a lot of wildlife that has been affected. It’s heartbreaking to see the impact that human pollution can have, even so far off shore.”
Intercepting plastic from rivers and reducing waste at source will be key steps in protecting the Cayos. Tururu and its six brother islands may be remote, but there is no ‘away’
PARADISE PROTECTED
Your support directly funds the protection of this unique place in two ways. Working with Parley and our partners in the Dominican Republic, you are making it possible to intercept plastic waste on Cayo Tururu and upcycle some of it. You're also supporting education and infrastructure projects to reduce plastic at source – an essential part of our mission in the DR.
WELCOME TO THE MOVEMENT
Your sunglasses are just the beginning of the Clean Waves journey. In the months ahead, we’ll take you to Cayo Tururu and other islands through exclusive content and explore how your support helps us protect these fragile marine ecosystems from plastic pollution.
It's great to have you onboard.
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