Jaguar protection at centre of Earth Hour activities
On Saturday at 8:30 pm, hundreds in Guyana joined with millions of people from 190 countries and territories in a moment of global unity pledging their support for the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF)’s Earth Hour.
Promoted as the ‘biggest hour for earth’, the Earth Hour event focused on protecting the iconic jaguar by promoting the Jaguar Roadmap 2030 initiative, a release from WEF-Guianas said. Present at the event were key public figures, including Robert Persaud – Chairman of the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) Board of Directors and Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and United Nations Resident Coordinator Yesim Oruc, who, together with Guyanese from various sectors of society, gathered at the National Park to ‘give the jaguar a voice’.
For the first time in Guyana, the release said that Earth Hour received strong support from the business sector, which included the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (main partner), ANSA McAL Group of Companies, Darthan Investments, and Boxhill Juices. Many of Guyana’s leading nature and civil society conservation organisations also took part in celebrating Earth Hour, the release said.
Delivering his feature address at the event, the release said that Persaud reiterated the government’s commitment to protecting natural habitats. He endorsed the WWF’s work in jaguar conservation. Persaud added that “through the LCDS 2030, the government intends to expand the protected areas system initially to 17% by 2025 and progressively to 30% by 2030, allowing for a greater focus on species conservation.
The release said that this is the ninth year of Earth hour in Guyana, and WWF will continue to use this platform to address climate change and biodiversity loss issues.
Aiesha Williams, WWF-Guianas Country Manager, Guyana Office, in her remarks, said that “WWF’s interest is to scale up our work towards preserving the jaguar population and ecosystems in Guyana and across the Guianas, contributing to the sustainable development of people and communities coexisting with jaguars. And to do so with an inclusive approach, with partners, especially with communities, will remain a key pillar of our work”.
The release said that Earth Hour activities in Guyana were also held in South Rupununi, where partner organisation, the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), convened a community ‘jaguar art competition’ in the lead-up to Earth Hour. On the night, youths from the community gathered around a campfire for games and stories in the village of Aishalton.
WWF’s Earth Hour campaign globally encouraged individuals, communities and businesses to give an Hour for Earth. WWF challenged the public to provide as many hours as possible and log them in its online ‘Hour Bank’ – an online count of all the planet-positive activities pledged by people for Earth Hour this year, the release said. With a target of reaching 60,000 hours or seven years’ worth – mirroring the time left to restore nature and coursecorrect for the sake of people and the planet – WWF saw a total of more than 410,000 hours pledged on the ‘Hour Bank’, the release added.