Love Wildlife is a non-profit organization based in Thailand dedicated to protecting Southeast Asian wildlife through comprehensive initiatives in research, education, advocacy, and outreach. Our efforts extend across both marine and terrestrial ecosystems through various programs. In addition, Love Wildlife initiated the Aow Thai Marine Ecology Center (ATMEC), which conducts research and conservation projects in collaboration with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR). The center is stationed at Koh Mun Nai, Rayong, however work is done in different parts of the Gulf as well as, and occasionally, Andaman.

In 2026, focusing on ATMEC’s two largest projects: Tao Talay Aow Thai and AR Credits

• Tao Talay Aow Thai or TTAT, initiated in 2015 and formalised in 2019. involving citizen science and community engagement to collect data and share information on the sea turtles in the Gulf of Thailand.

• AR Credits, The project focuses on studying the economic, ecological and carbon resources invested, produced and supported by the vast artificial reef deployment efforts across Thailand. Focusing on in-water data collection efforts on marine life support by Thai artificial reefs, and extensive deployment of low-carbon artificial substrates across various sites in Thailand.

The allocation and budget will covered on:

• Scholarship, this full-time internship aims to provide a monthly stipend to support living and transport costs and will be participating in a diverse array of fieldwork and labwork, and other conservation science and science-communication projects, with an emphasis on supporting TTAT.

• Part of the above scholarship experience would be to involve data collection and analysis of AR Credits and TTAT projects being high-priority activities. The second budget item exclusively looks to support the transport and accommodation costs for the candidate to participate in fieldwork components of the scholarship.

• Science-communication, supporting monthly public science communication and outreach events in Bangkok, providing free opportunities for the public to learn about marine conservation and marine science from experts and practitioners across Thailand.

• Research-Camera, funding an underwater camera to improve marine biodiversity monitoring, research, and educational opportunities for the ATMEC field team.

• Permitting and Administration, supporting staff time for administrative and project management responsibilities, including securing the permits required for the second year of the Artificial Reef Credits project.

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Coral reefs and reef biodiversity are at risk of decline due to a variety of factors, such as tourism, the fishing industry, and climate change.

The project aims to give coral reefs a better chance of survival despite these outside pressures. The project will help increase surface area for coral recruits (baby corals) to attach as well as restoring broken corals in need of rescuing, if found.

Divers will deploy and construct concrete structures between 400-450 kg underwater to increase surface area substrate for baby corals to naturally settle by passive restoration. This one-time deployment results in the settlement of approximately 100 corals within a time period of 12-18 months. These structures can also serve as a sanctuary for other marinelilfe and promote biodiverstiy. Additional site-appropriate structures will be deployed to support active rescue of corals when signficant damage is observed/reported. Monitoring and maintenance will be conducted periodically to increase the chances of survial as well as collect important data for coral conservation.

The funds will be used to cover the following costs: boat transportation, fuel, SCUBA diving team, equipment, deployment, securement tools and materials for artificial reef structures. In addition, the structures need a maintenance session to ensure stability and success within the first few weeks of deployment, as well as a monitoring of the sites 12-18 months after deployment to confirm recruitment success. Transplantation of rescued corals also need maintenance and monitoring to promote coral survival after the original transplantation. These sessions greatly improve the corals' chance of survival.

Every 1,000 THB donated will support approximately 1 coral in the Gulf of Thailand.