Stepping Into Truth: Conversations on Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Talking with Blue Parks Ambassador
Tharaka Sriram

Season 3 Episode 15

Tharaka Sriram

In this episode I talk with Tharaka Sriram who has merged her values of the preservation of the oceans with women's justice issues and more. Tharaka and I discuss the overlap between the damage we're doing to our oceans and domestic violence. 

She discusses the necessity for more women, particularly women of color, to be part of the conversation around ocean preservation and the preservation of a way of life for many Indigenous peoples. 

She also challenges some assumptions that many of us have about the relationship that those who live by, and depend on, the ocean have with it. As well as the impact of plastic pollution on women especially.

Whether you're an ocean lover or not, this is an important conversation about the health of our planet. Speaking with Tharaka has given me a lot to think about and will change some of the ways in which I engage with the ocean and the creatures that call it home.

Tharaka Sriram is a marine conservationist, educator and activist for women`s rights, diversity and youth empowerment.

She is a Blue Parks Ambassador for the Marine Conservation Institute.

In 2015 she founded the ocean literacy initiative, Ocean Education giving talks and workshops on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), in order to fight for the creation of a worldwide network of highly protected marine areas. 

For a written transcript of this episode click here.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

International Collective for the Support of Fishworkers  (ICSF)

Yemaya is the ICSF newsletter on gender and fisheries

To read more about Tharaka's work as a Marine Ambassador go here.

Credits:
Harmonica music courtesy of a friend