By Cheyenne Samson | Project Leader
As we’re nearing the end of the year it is always important to look back at the work we have done and what we would still like to achieve. This year we were able to engage with the students in Galibi to teach them about the environment and the importance of the community of Galibi for the protection of sea turtles. We also organized a beach cleanup with the community to help remove waste from their beach. This waste can cause many issues for the sea turtles trying to nest and the hatchlings trying to get to the sea. Unfortunately, the majority of waste that makes its way to the beach of Galibi is waste that is dumped upstream of the Marowijne river, and then makes its way to the sea.
This problem is not unique to Suriname. All over the world people are trying to figure out how to remove waste, especially plastic waste from the environment and how to prevent it from getting into the environment in the first place. Next year, we will attempt to address both these issues with a project called Prevention of Marine Litter (PROMAR). Within this project, we will remove waste from rivers thereby preventing it from reaching the ocean where it can cause problems for sea turtles and other marine fauna. We will also look at our waste management system and try to figure out how and why waste is not properly disposed of and how we can address the issue. Lastly, we will implement an awareness campaign and other awareness-raising activities to educate the public on the harmful impacts of littering and marine pollution. One such awareness-raising activity is an ocean expedition to gather marine fauna data and data on marine litter, and that will involve high school and university students.
A lot of people in Suriname do not realize that our sea consists of more than the brown, murky waters we see along the coast. We also have green and blue water that is home to amazing animals such as sea turtles, whales, and manta rays. By allowing young people to see and experience this all for themselves we hope to inspire them to advocate for the marine environment and in doing so for sea turtles. This is one of the many ways in which we will try to create new Sea Turtle Heroes!
By Cheyenne Samson | Project Leader
By Cheyenne Samson | Project Leader
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