World Ocean Day celebrations in Baobab Beach, Kilifi County, Kenya
HEALTHY OCEANS, HEALTHY PLANET - this was the overarching message of celebrations orchestrated by Eco Ethics Kenya with its partners and sponsors, including Mundus maris. Already since several years, Eco Ethics Kenya is actively engaged in building awareness on the importance of conserving and safeguarding our oceans. They ask: Why do we celebrate world oceans day? and answer for all of us - The world’s ocean:
- Generates most of the oxygen we breathe
- Is a home to a number of aquatic life
- Regulates our climate
- Cleans the water we drink
- Offers a pharmacopoeia of potential medicines e.t.c
This year’s objectives were;
Change perspective – encourage individuals to think about what the ocean means to them and what it has to offer all of us with hopes of conserving it for present and the future generations.
Learn – discover the wealth of diverse and beautiful ocean creatures and habitats, how our daily actions affect them, and how we are all interconnected.
Change our ways – we are all linked to, and through, the ocean! By taking care of your backyard and helping in your community, you are acting as a caretaker of our ocean. Making small modifications to your everyday habits will help and involving your family, friends, and community will greatly benefit our blue planet!
Celebrate – whether you live inland or on the coast we are all connected to the ocean.Take the time to think about how the ocean affects you, and how you affect the ocean, and then organize or participate in activities that celebrate our ocean.
This year’s event was held at Baobab Beach in Kilifi County under the theme ‘Healthy oceans, Healthy planet’ ´ under which all the WOD undertakings were orchestrated. The event attracted a wide array of guests and participants drawn from various sectors and industries directly or indirectly linked to the oceans.
Procession
The event commenced with a procession starting from Kibaoni Stage and leading its way through Kilifi town via Charo wa Mae road up to the designated site. The procession was flagged off by the VC Pwani University Prof. Rajab Mohammed. The march was led by scouts form the Kenya Scouts Association. Present too were representatives of several CSO’s and NGO’s.
The procession successfully captured the attention of the community who gladly joined in the Beach Clean-up. The guests, school children and community took up part in the beach cleanup which was coordinated by Where Talent Lives – Kilifi. A challenge experienced was the school children mistaking the sea weeds for trash, which underlined the importance to use World Oceans Day for creating awareness on the ocean and its ecosystem.
Messages and speeches
Mr. Kevin Chemorei from Kenya Red Cross, Kilifi County, reported that their organisation is active through regular beach clean ups.
Dr. Benards Okeyo, Director Eco Ethics, gave a detailed history of the World Oceans Day since its ratification on 22nd December 2008. He called upon every person to give more attention to the oceans and advised the government to formulate policies that could aid in protecting the ocean resources. He further thanked everyone for their support and participation for making the day a success.
The guest of honour, Mr. Ernest Maina, the Regional Director of NEMA Kilifi County, acknowledged the ocean being vital in terms of people’s livelihoods for those inhabiting areas around the coast and those up country as a gateway to Kenya. He emphasised on the importance of environmental education in schools. He added that learning institutions should instill values of sustainability to students as it would create a culture of environmental awareness and conservation. He challenged the public to properly utilize the ocean resources and take proactive measures in protecting them.
Awards
The various schools that participated in the Eco-Club challenge were awarded, with most awards going to Star of the Sea Primary School. This year, the students submitted a variety of artwork ranging from drawings, crafting and some expressed their passion on conservation via essays. The students who participated in the Mundus maris Awards contest were also handed honorary diplomas. Several won distinct prizes.
Click here to enjoy the video.
