Why Islands Matter explores the vital connection between island communities and the ecosystems that sustain them. Presented by Seacology, this program highlights how protecting reefs, rainforests, and other fragile island environments can also bring meaningful benefits to local people through education, renewable energy, and sustainable livelihoods. With more than 35 years of global conservation work, Seacology offers an inspiring look at why islands are both uniquely important and urgently in need of protection.
Presentation and Discussion
Thursday, August 27, 2026
6:00-7:30 p.m.
Tingloy Municipality, Philippines
Environmental issues are human issues. To people living on islands, their forest or sea is a lifeline, a source of food and livelihood, and a profoundly important part of their culture. But islanders are under constant economic pressure. They want to protect their precious resources, but they also need money to meet their families’ basic needs for education, health, and opportunity. It can be a heartbreaking dilemma.
Seacology helps islanders protect their environment AND receive important community benefits. Our projects have made it possible for villages to keep protecting reefs and rainforests while replacing dilapidated schools, building ecotourism centers that will generate sustainable income, or installing solar power that transforms their daily lives. This win-win approach recognizes the knowledge and autonomy of indigenous communities and gives them an economic incentive to preserve their natural resources.
Seacology works only on islands because they are extraordinarily important and vulnerable ecosystems. Nearly 40 percent of critically endangered species live on islands; if they vanish from their island homes, they vanish from the Earth. Protecting islands, which are on the front lines of climate change, is now more critical than ever.
Since Seacology’s founding 35 years ago, we have launched over 450 projects in 74 countries, protecting more than 1.6 million acres of vulnerable marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Through our travel program, supporters can visit our projects and see their impact in person.
Since 1999, Duane Silverstein has been the Executive Director of Seacology, an international nonprofit with the sole focus of preserving islands – their fragile habitats, vanishing species, and historic cultures – across the globe. Before heading Seacology, he was the Executive Director of the Goldman Fund, one of California’s largest philanthropic foundations, for 18 years. Duane was instrumental in creating and heading the Goldman Environmental Prize, which has been dubbed the “Nobel Prize of the Environment” by National Geographic and news media around the globe. Over his career he has visited more than 228 islands in 100 nations, and is widely considered one of the world’s foremost experts on islands.
Marisol Rueda Flores is a biologist, science communicator, and conservation professional based in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. She earned her B.Sc. in Biology from the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos and a Master of Science in Marine Resources Management from CICIMAR-IPN, where she specialized in blue whale research in the Gulf of California.
For more than 20 years, Marisol has worked in marine conservation, environmental education, science communication, and community engagement across Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Galápagos Islands. Her experience spans the conservation of coral reefs, cetaceans, sea turtles, marine invertebrates, and island ecosystems, combining scientific knowledge with outreach, environmental education, and collaboration with local communities.
She currently serves as Communications Officer for Healthy Reefs for Healthy People, leading regional communications across the Mesoamerican Reef, while also representing Seacology in Mexico as Field Representative, supporting community-based conservation projects that protect biodiversity while improving local livelihoods.
An AAUS-certified scientific diver and AGRRA Fish Monitoring Instructor, Marisol is passionate about connecting people with the ocean through effective communication, underwater exploration, and storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys scuba diving, underwater photography, and traveling to discover new cultures and marine environments.
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