Virgin Islands government and conservation organizations have received a federal grant to educate tourists and residents about the ecological impact of pocketing pretty things washed on shore.

The Virgin Islands Resource Conservation and Development Council announced that it has received a $45,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to promote its "Leave Paradise in its Place" campaign, which is administered in cooperation with the Virgin Islands Network of Environmental Educators, University of the Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service and the Department of Natural Resources Coastal Zone Management Division.

The goal of the campaign is to get the word out about the ecological effect of removing corals, shells, sand, rocks, turtle eggs and other marine life from their natural habitats.

"Sometimes people don't realize that inside that shell - that it looks like there's nothing inside of it - there's something living," said Dee Osinski V.I. RC&D project manager for the campaign. "When you're taking things out of their environments, you're depleting the natural resources, which creates an an imbalance. All the ecosystems here are connected, and we want to leave what's left intact."

Under the Virgin Islands Endangered and Indigenous Species Act of 1990, it is illegal to disturb indigenous, endangered or threatened species. According to V.I. RC&D officials, more than 1,400 pounds of Virgin Islands coral, shells and marine life were confiscated by federal authorities from January to September 2008 alone.

"People who have lived here a long time tell me 'I remember when you could walk along the beach and there used to be live conch you could pick up without getting your pants wet,' " said William Coles, chief of environmental education at the DPNR's Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Coles is working with Transportation Safety Administration officials to confiscate rocks, shells and corals from luggage at the territory's airports. Over the last three years, he has seen the amount of contraband collected cut in half, which Coles attributes both to increased national awareness of conservation issues and local educational efforts.

Leave Paradise in its Place was initiated in 2007 with a $10,000 NOAA grant administered through the Caribbean Marine Fisheries Council. The campaign's organizers used their modest start-up funds to print posters informing visitors about the ecological effect of removing sand, rocks and organisms from their natural environment. The posters were placed at airports and tourist sites on all three islands. The campaign also printed T-shirts and created an educational website.

The latest NOAA grant will expand the campaign to educate residents as well as tourists. Osinski said organizers will use the grant funds to create public service announcements for local television and radio and to buy advertising space in local tourism magazines and websites. They plan to start hosting snorkeling clinics for tourists at St. Croix hotels and holding educational programs in territory schools.

"Even though something may not look like it is a living creature, it has its place, and it more than likely is alive," Osinski said. "Unless they are educated, people don't know that."

- Contact Constance Cooper at 774-8772 ext. 364 or e-mail ccooper@dailynews.vi.