Almost every day we are alerted to a crisis, be it social, political economic or environmental. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and start to block out everything and assume the worst. As sailors, we are all too aware of climate change, warming seas and how that affects our activities.

Over the last few years, it has become apparent that steps are being taken to address the growing pressures on our waters, from the Save Our Seas campaign and the Studland Bay eco-moorings in the UK, to numerous initiatives in our home waters in the Mediterranean.

I recently attended a meeting at the local yacht show held by the Sustainable Sailing in Greece organisation. It was set up to highlight the pressures that large numbers of yachts can have on the marine environment, and steps we can all take to alleviate them.

Their work is primarily aimed at charterers and has been warmly received and supported by several charter companies. It is a decent plan, because it means they can reach the thousands of visiting sailors who spend a week or so here, but there is plenty we can all learn.

There is nothing difficult about using marine- friendly washing up liquid, sunblock and shower gel. Nor is being careful to avoid seagrass when anchoring and keeping your distance from marine wildlife.

But if everyone does a little, it could add up to a significant change, and a better awareness of the small things we can do can’t hurt.

Other projects here are working to remove debris from the seas. Old fish farm equipment, fishing gear, tyres and trolleys have all been lifted from bays and harbours. Literally tonnes of the stuff. Fishermen are also incentivised to ‘fish’ for rubbish and return it to shore.

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It has been shown that even severely depleted marine environments will recover to a good state in a relatively short time. I have observed bays in Turkey that when used as fish farms were a putrid-smelling, eutrophic marine desert, and yet a couple of seasons after the fish farm was removed, it was well on the way back to health.

Five years later, you would barely know a fish farm had been there. I could see small fish swimming in the gin-clear water and even spotted a turtle. Fish farms proliferate in bays throughout the eastern Med, and although mitigation measures are taken, such as mooring them in deep water, their long-term sustainability raises huge questions.

In several places environmentalists have joined forces with locals, fishermen, tourists and sailors to object to them, on well-documented environmental grounds.

Another recent project has created a protection zone around the Formicula islets in the Ionian. They are a crucial habitat for Mediterranean monk seals, and a known ‘maternity unit’ for these endangered mammals. As word spread of their existence, more and more boats arrived to see if they could catch a glimpse of these shy creatures.

At one time 50 boats were counted here, with some small craft entering the coves and caves where pups would be. A group of environmental organisations successfully lobbied government for a protection order which is now being enforced.

Of course, these actions are no universal panacea for our problems, and much more needs to be done here in Greece to provide real recycling solutions for starters. But all these things add up. In these times of global strife and uncertainty, it is important to cheer the successes, however small they may be.

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