Mamanuca Children instilled with environment awareness

In a bid to inculcate environment awareness to children, the Mamanuca Environment Society hosted World Ocean Day on three islands of Tavua, Yanuya and Malolo.

The society worked with Motu Kindergarten, Namamanuca Kindergarten and Malolo Kindergarten. This year’s theme “Gender and the Ocean” promotes the participation of girls and women in building a greater ocean.

It promotes gender equality in ocean-related activities such as marine scientific research, fisheries, labour at sea, policy-making and management.

Project manager Marica Vakacola said it was an opportunity to honour, help protect, conserve conducting awareness on the importance of the ocean to everyone. “We wanted to use this platform to empower local women and girls in these island communities to give recognition to their conservation efforts in their respective communities and help them better understand that a healthy world ocean is critical to our survival. “We have built partnership with stakeholders to support the UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 Climate Action, Goal 14- Life Below Water, Goal 15 Life on Land.

“This is with a vision to develop more awareness programmes targeting children in addressing environment protection and the need to reduce marine litter,” added Mrs Vakacola. Malolo preschool teacher Rusila Baleinabuli said by imparting conservation knowledge at this very young age it would be imprinted in their minds as they encounter this developing world.

The students participated in beach clean-up, sorting of garbage, planted trees- beach Calophyllum (Dilo), beach almond (tavola), Tahitian chestnut (Ivi) and mangroves along coastal eroded areas. The database of trees planted this week will be shared with the Ministry of Forestry as contribution from the Mamanucas towards the four million trees initiative.