The result was zero.
The Green Fins Indonesia team visited Nusa Ceningan this month for our fifth assessment. With the result, Ceningan Divers became the first Green Fins member in Indonesia with a zero score. Under Green Fins criteria, this means the assessors recorded no environmental impact against the centre.
We co-founded the dive centre in 2015 and have seen it reach many milestones since. This one has particular significance, because it was not the outcome of a vote. It was an audit, and an audit evaluates practices, not the quality of an Instagram presence.
How does Green Fins scoring work?
Green Fins is an environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators. The Reef-World Foundation coordinates it with the UN Environment Programme, and in Indonesia the assessments are carried out by a national team with the Coral Triangle Center.
The scoring works in the opposite direction from most business measures. Assessors examine what happens above and below the water, and every impact adds points, out of a possible 330. A lower score is better. Members must continue to reduce their score to remain active, so progress has to be sustained: every year, an assessor returns to verify that commitments have been met.
A score of zero means the assessors found nothing to record. Green Fins publishes news about its members on its blog, where the official details of this result are available: Green Fins on the Ceningan Divers 2024 milestone.
What does it take to reach a zero score?
Six years of consistent habits. We joined Green Fins in 2018. The zero score came in 2024. That interval explains the result.
No single project led to this outcome. It came from a series of small decisions, repeated until they became routine. The main ones are:
- No single-use plastic on the boats or at the resort.
- A 68,000-litre rainwater reservoir, built in 2018, on an island where fresh water is a genuine concern.
- Beach cleanups every week, rather than once a year for the photo.
- Citizen science with the Marine Megafauna Foundation, so that guests collect data rather than simply observe mantas.
- The online Education Centre we opened in April 2020, with free conservation workshops and Project AWARE courses.
None of these measures is spectacular. Some required an upfront investment, and their benefits took time to become visible.
This aspect is often overlooked in discussions of certification. Readers see the result and assume a major final effort. There was none. The score decreased because daily routines changed, and those routines changed because the team maintained them after the initial enthusiasm faded, which tends to happen quickly.
What do Green Fins assessors actually evaluate?
Primarily, staff training. An assessor does not evaluate the owners. The assessor observes the crew, the guides and the briefings: what happens when a guest reaches for coral, and where the boat ties up. Owners can write detailed policies, but if the person on the boat at 7 a.m. is not committed to them, the score rises.
This zero score therefore belongs to the team: to the guides who deliver the reef briefing properly every time, even on the fourth trip of the day, when they are tired and the guests are only partly listening; and to the crew who handle mooring and waste the same way whether or not anyone is observing.
This cannot be purchased. It is built through training, and through repeated training, because staff leave and new people join. This is the most transferable lesson from the result: a standard is only as strong as the least motivated person applying it on a difficult day.
How does an outside audit help the team?
From the outside, an audit can appear to be paperwork. Our experience shows a clear benefit. When an external assessor evaluates the operation, the team works toward a target that is independent of management's opinion. "Green Fins is going to check this" is far more effective than "because I said so." Staff can also take pride in a result measured by a third party rather than simply claimed in a brochure.
How can you share a sustainability result without making it only about your business?
There is a natural temptation to turn such a result into a marketing campaign about the business itself. This is partly justified: divers do choose operators on this basis, and a centre with good practices should make them known.
A reef, however, does not belong to a single business. The village, the other operators, the boat captains, the suppliers and the people collecting waste at the landing are all part of it. A zero score for one dive centre on a small island is meaningful only if the island as a whole moves in the same direction.
Our advice to other operators remains unchanged. Do not hesitate to take the eco path. Ask questions, find mentors, and learn from your "coopetitors." Good ideas in sustainability should circulate freely rather than be kept private.
What can any small business learn from a reef audit?
The lessons extend well beyond diving. The same approach applies to a gîte in Quebec, a sugar shack, an outfitter, a restaurant or a surf shop.
First, choose a standard that is verified by a third party. Self-declared "eco-friendly" labels are now widespread, and consumers tend to disregard them. A third-party assessment is slower and far less flattering, which is precisely why it is credible.
Second, measure progress over several years. A first assessment is often a sobering experience. It nonetheless provides an honest baseline.
Third, when you communicate the result, show the work: photos of the actual cleanups, the actual water tank, the actual training session with a new guide. Specific evidence is believed; adjectives are not. Presenting this on a website without it reading as greenwashing requires particular expertise, and careful bilingual copywriting is important if your guests read in more than one language.
The team will take time to appreciate this result. The assessors will then return, as they do every year, and the score will need to remain where it is.