Let's celebrate World Ocean Day 2015
1. The Ocean and its amazing creatures have inspired cultures and traditions across the world. Legends, myths, stories, works of art testify throughout the
history of respect and admiration that humans
pay to the marine world today helped by
modern science.
2. The Ocean has a value in itself. Humanity could
not survive without a healthy Ocean. Our
Planet Earth itself would not be the same without
it. Plant life in the Ocean produces every second breath we take.
3. However, the abusive exploitation of marine resources, excessive and destructive fishing have degenerated marine ecosystems on an unprecedented scale. After years of industrial overfishing, the abundance of many big marine species is only a very small fraction of what it used to be.
4. The Ocean has absorbed already much of the CO2 human activities have released into the atmosphere and which provokes climate change. This assault on its integrity provokes its waters to become warmer and acidified.
5. All kinds of waste – nuclear, plastic, pesticides, land-based nutrients, other harmful chemicals and litter - is thrown mercilessly into the Ocean and thus degrades both marine and human life.
6. As a result of this violence, the Ocean is losing its capacity to sustain many species, including those directly providing food and medicines for us. Dead zones without oxygen are on the increase.
7. Climate change in the form of warming also has major negative impacts on polar ice caps, glaciers, marine biodiversity and coastal populations that once lived in harmony with nature.
8. And the Ocean is also the tragic scene of armed clashes, wars and desperate migration, aggravating the ecological damage and trampling human dignity.
9. Why is this? Can we imagine to stop the slaughter and the destruction? Can we all together change course, restore the Ocean e.g. through networks of large Marine Protected Areas and to stop the catch of babyfish?
10. We believe that together, with the concern and determination of the citizens of the world, we can! We need our dreams, the best scientific knowledge publicly available and moral purpose to achieve this feat. We are all called to restore and protect the Ocean. We hope our collective efforts will be great enough to take care of this Life Support System, for present and future generations and Planet Earth as a whole.
Mundus maris Award 2015 – We Are All Connected To The Ocean
We invite you – young people up to age 24 (up to 12 years, 13 to 18 years and 19 to 24 years) - to participate in a contest for the Mundus maris Award 2015 for celebrating the World Ocean Day 2015, 8 June, together. We invite original and creative written and visual stories about the ocean. Stories are welcome from all over the world. The best in each age group will be published in an open-access e-book to help others to connect to the Ocean too.
Inspirational text for 2015 celebrations: “The Ocean and the Human Family” (see the text on the previous page).
Forms of participation:
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What would you do if you were to decide on how we could care better for the Ocean? Write up a story.
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What is your dream for the Ocean in the future? Write up a story
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What is your dream for the Ocean in the future? Draw up a cartoon
Maximum size: three A4 pages (for individual or collective work)
Language: English, French, German, Italian or Spanish
Illustrations (drawings, photos) as part of a written story are welcome.
Format: PDF or JPG (one jpg per page) – recommended. Please send pure text in word or open office (odt) format using Arial 11 pts font
Please submit your participation as an e-mail attachment to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
How to participate:
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Participants have to submit in the same e-mail the following data: name and surname, age, nationality, postal address and contact e-mail.
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Works can be individual or collective: specify the complete data of every participant of the team and mark team participation clearly.
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For participants younger than 16 years, an adult has to authorise their participation (please provide the data of both).
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Submissions have to be original and in harmony with World Ocean Day objectives. Any form of plagiarism will disqualify the work.
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Materials shared in the public domain can be used, but the source has to be adequately acknowledged.
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An international jury will examine all entries and select the winners. The judgement of the jury is final.
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The jury will take into account the age of participants and allot awards accordingly.
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The participation in the contest means the authorization of Mundus maris and other sponsors to share and recognize the submitted works in the public domain with due recognition of the authors.
The best entries will be especially recognized in an open-access e-book.
Deadline: The deadline for submissions has been extended to Sunday, 10 May 2015, 17h Brussels time.
Awards:
For each category there are three prizes of 300, 200 and 100 Euro respectively.
The best entries will be honoured in World Ocean Day events in several countries and published in an open-access e-book to inspire others to connect to the Ocean.
Each participant will receive a personal “Honorary Diploma” by e-mail in recognition of the effort contributed to celebrating World Ocean Day 2015.
Special events for World Ocean Day with award ceremony:
The winners will be announced on World Ocean Day: 8 June 2015, in several celebratory events in different cities around the world from Brussels and Buenos Aires to Rome.
The Mundus maris Award 2015 is in collaboration with:
- Homo sapiens FM, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Public Aquarium Brussels, Belgium
- Deutsche Meeresstiftung / ALDEBARAN, Hamburg, Germany
- Meeresbürger, Network, Germany
- Formica Blu, Rome, Italy
- Eco-Ethics, Mombasa, Kenya
- FIN - FishBase Information and Research Group, Los Baños, Philippines
- Centre de Recherche sur les Technologies Intermédiaires de Pêche (CREDETIP), Dakar, Senegal
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Public Aquarium AQUARIUM PUBLIC |
Aldebaran |
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Centre de Recherche Dakar, Senegal |
and co-sponsored by
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Danny van Belle, Underwater Videographer, Belgium / Thailand
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Tut Gut Institut, Cologne, Germany
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pubcoder, Turin, Italy
We also collaborate with ...
Monte Hermoso, Argentina
Monte Hermoso, a nice fishing and tourist place in Argentina, head town of the homonymous part in the Province of Buenos Aires, has agreed with Mundus maris to serve as representative of the Argentine marine coastal communities for celebrating World Oceans Day. The reasons are simple: the ongoing effort of the inhabitants of Monte Hermoso to defend the same values of sustainability which drive our organisation; an attitude that translates into concrete action such as achieving a ban on trawling in the first five miles in one of the most vulnerable areas, El Rincón, by ministerial resolution in 2002.
Another goal achieved by artisanal fishermen is this: extending the ban in this area by extending it to six months by order of the Federal Fisheries Council; creating likewise a very large effort-restricted area (up to the 50 meters isobath) where vessels over 25 meters in length are banned, except only the Buenos Aires anchovy (Engraulis anchoita) fishery which is certified to the standard of the Marine Stewardship Council. Currently also, work is underway on a bill about artisanal fisheries with a view to largely protect the interests of this activity. "We fish today and also tomorrow" is the motto that tourists profess to hear constantly from the locals. And tourism is also exercised in a responsible manner by being “soft” on the beaches in order to facilitate their conservation, among other relevant measures taken to protect the coast.
Sergio Bambaren
Sergio Bambaren, best-selling author of world fame for his many books about the ocean, his great passion, has captured the imagination of people all over the place. His first book "The Dolphin. Story of a Dreamer" was translated into more than 20 languages.
Sergio is also Vice-President of "Mundo Azul" an NGO in his native Peru committed to protect the ocean.
When we launched the Mundus maris Award 2015 he said: "Submit your story about the Ocean of your dreams to gain a Mundus maris Award 2015. It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate World Oceans Day 2015 together. The deadline is 20 April (extended to 10 May) - don't miss it!"
Ananya Ashok
Ananya Ashok, Junior Research Fellow - Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, India, shared this endorsement statement:
"The right to fish carries with it the responsibility to do so in a correct manner, states the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. In a country like India, which houses a fisherfolk population of nearly 3.5 million, responsible fisheries gains even more relevance. As a young researcher working on understanding the influence of human activity on the immediate coastal environment through pollution pathways, I believe, it is necessary to sensitize the need for responsible fisheries to a greater extent.
The World Oceans Day is a wonderful opportunity to take from the people and return to them messages on saving the seas around us. I invite the youth from India and from across the globe to come forward with ideas, dreams and future visions for our ocean. Let us share our thoughts with the global human family by contributing written or visual stories to the Mundus maris World Ocean Day Contest 2015 on the theme of "The ocean and the human family".
It is my pleasure and privilege to volunteer with Mundus maris and to work towards bringing in greater participation from India. I look forward to enthusiastic and fresh participation from young minds across the world!"