ESO goes beyond Earth Hour to create environment awareness

Times News Service

MUSCAT: The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) celebrated the worldwide movement of Earth Hour with a series of initiatives including a month-long social media drive during March.

The global theme this year continues to be “Connect 2 Earth” which focuses on raising awareness about global biodiversity and its importance to our ecosystems. ESO’s aim was to raise awareness on the importance of conserving Oman’s natural marine heritage, specifically whales, dolphins, turtles, seabirds and coral reefs.

The ESO asked communities in Oman to switch off all non-essential lights during Earth Hour as a symbolic gesture towards saving the planet.

Suaad Al Harthi, Executive Director of ESO, said, “The goal was to go beyond Earth Hour and reflect on how our day-to-day actions can negatively impact the environment. We drew attention to the impact of single-use plastics and how we as individuals can make a difference. In particular, we should be saying no to single-use plastic bags, straws, plastic bottles, cutlery, plates and cups and properly disposing of cigarette butts. We also called on people to support ESO’s efforts by becoming an ESO member.”

A beach clean-up campaign at Al Ghubra was also organised by ESO to encourage residents to take responsibility for Oman’s beaches and raise environmental awareness. ESO has a long history of coordinating beach clean-ups. In 2016 and 2017 it removed a total of 1,067 kg of waste from the ecologically sensitive beaches of the Damaniyat Islands Nature Reserve and 590 kg of discarded fishing nets underwater.

In January this year, it organised a beach clean-up of Masirah beach. The group collected over 197 tons of waste and used fishing gear in collaboration with Masirah Municipality, Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs Be’ah and National Ferries Company.