Last week the world commemorated two events which were very important to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — World Environment Day, on June 5 and World Oceans Day on June 8.
The themes for this year urge global collective responsibility in reducing global food waste and protecting the ocean.
In the spirit of the theme for World Oceans Day — "together we have the power to protect the ocean" — UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) encourages countries in the wider Caribbean region to take steps to reduce marine pollution and protect coastal and marine biodiversity.
Eighty-five per cent of the wastewater which enters the Caribbean Sea is untreated, and approximately 80 per cent of living coral in the reefs have been lost in the past 20 years. Therefore, there needs to be a joint effort in preserving the marine environment on which the region depends for tourism and fisheries.
Through the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol), Oil Spills Protocol and the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW Protocol), UNEP CEP aims to make Caribbean nationals aware of the serious threat to marine and coastal resources, as well as human life, as a result of these sources of pollution. UNEP CEP also stresses the importance of protecting mangroves and fisheries.
Oceans not only generate income and provide recreational activities for the region's people, but are also a rich resource from which the region gets its food.
In celebration of World Environment Day's theme: Think. Eat. Save. Reduce your foodprint, UNEP CEP exhibited promotional and awareness-raising material at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus) where Youth Crime Watch of Jamaica, in collaboration with the departments of chemistry and physics, launched a waste-to-fuel for energy diversification project on World Environment Day, June 5.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/environment/UNEP-CEP-celebrates-World-Envirornment--Oceans-days_14466092#ixzz2XATQK5Fk
