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On Friday, February 2, Jamaica
will join the international community in observing World Wetlands Day
(WWD) 2007 under the theme “Fish for Tomorrow?” This year’s theme aims
to raise awareness of fishing practices, globally. To commemorate this
important environmental calendar event several activities have been
organized, locally.
Under the auspices of the
National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), three exhibitions, a
beach and mangrove clean up and a live Outside Broadcast on Power 106
FM’s have been planned. The venues for the exhibitions are Port Royal,
Hellshire and Lionel Town, in Clarendon.
NEPA along with volunteers will
clean up the Palisadoes-Port Royal Protected Area in Kingston. The
Power 106 FM OB which gets underway at 2:30 p.m. will broadcast from
the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) Site Office, in Hellshire in
St. Catherine.
The Caribbean Coastal Area
Management (CCAM) non-Government organization (NGO) will also
participate in the Lionel Town exhibition. There, they will conduct
presentations on wetlands. That event starts at 9:00 a.m. CCAM in
collaboration with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and Marine Police
will also conduct a boat tour of the Old Harbour Bay in St.
Catherine.
Elsewhere, the Institute of
Jamaica (IOJ) will conduct a tour of Mason River, in Clarendon,
starting at 1:00 p.m.
The Negril Environment Protection
Trust (NEPT) will also stage an exhibition in Negril to mark the day,
while the St. Elizabeth Environmental Protection Association (STEPA)
will conduct “Awareness Talks” in Black River, in the parish.
WWD marks the date the Convention
on Wetlands was signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971. The
Ramsar Convention, as it is called, is an international agreement
aimed at protecting wetlands. Jamaica is a Contracting Party to the
Ramsar Convention which means it has specific obligations to fulfil
for the preservation and protection of its wetlands. At least one
major wetland site must be designated each year for inclusion in the
List of Wetlands of International Importance.
To date, the Black River Lower
Morass and the Port Royal-Palisadoes Protected Area have been declared
Wetlands of International Importance.
In the meantime, NEPA has signed
onto Radio Jamaica 94 FM’s “Radiocation” Road Showcase.
A product of its marketing
department, “Radiocation” is designed to engage the nation’s schools
in various aspects of radio, television and print as well as to expose
them to various career choices. Participating schools will receive
maximum exposure on all their developmental plans and activities and
students will have a chance to win scholarships from participating
companies.
NEPA, along with several other
corporate sponsors will mount exhibitions, conduct career talks,
quizzes and other promotional activities in an effort engage this
crucial member of its target audience.
Tomorrow, Friday, February 2,
Radiocation rolls into Camperdown High School, in Kingston. The event
promises to be a fun filled and exciting day of education and
entertainment weaved into one. Career talks, display exhibits and live
Dancehall and Reggae performances are scheduled, including interviews
on RJR’s flagship discussion programme Hot Line.
Join us tomorrow, on air, as we
educate Jamaica’s youth about the need to protect the environment.
Activities get underway at 10:30 a.m.
NEPA has also launched a new and
exciting radio interview feature entitled “Five Minutes With NEPA”.
Each week, for the next nine weeks, a new (NEPA) Spokesperson will
speak to selected media – RJR 94 FM, LOVE 101 FM and JIS Radio about a
topical environment and or planning issue.
This week (Monday, January 29 –
Friday, February 2, 2007), our featured Spokesperson is Winsome
Townsend, Director of Policy, Programmes and Projects Division.
Mrs. Townsend will speak on the
roles and functions of NEPA, focusing specifically on the Agency’s
raison d’etre.
Listen to LOVE 101 FM on Saturday
mornings, at 7:55 a.m. and RJR 94FM on Friday mornings, at 8:45 a.m.
Jamaica Magazine JIS Radio’s news magazine programme is aired on six
stations, nationally, including Radio France International.
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