Bahrain’s environmentalists have been commemorating today’s World Environment Day with a series of beach clean-ups, cultural events and seedling distributions which started over the weekend.
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on June 5 and encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment. First held in 1973, it has been a platform for raising awareness on environmental issues such as marine pollution, overpopulation, global warming, sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.
At Seef Mall Muharraq, the ‘We Can’ volunteer team yesterday distributed seedlings to visitors to the complex to encourage individuals to nurture their own gardens.
Community organisation OneHeartBahrain also organised a clean-up at the Nurana Beach, with 60 volunteers working hard to collect 96 bags of waste which had ended up washed up on the shore.
“We’d love to see Bahrain’s beaches as a beautiful shining example of this island’s rich Pearling Heritage, but beaches are not just part of the beautiful landscape for humans to enjoy,” added One Heart Bahrain founder Birthe van der Heijden.
“They are also an important habitat to animals and plant life that extends from land into sea. Much of the rubbish that gets thrown on the sand ends up in the sea and this affects the well-being of creatures and water plants, which people may not think about when they leave litter on the beach.
“Other groups who joined us are Recaf, a green student start-up with an environmental agenda of recycling coffee grinds into self-watering plant pots, two Filipino communities FPEX-ACPPI & FPEX-BGSEC and our own OneHeartBahrain volunteer and her amazing team – also known as Gloria’s Team with the special needs families – and many others.”
This evening at 6pm, the Save Soil movement in Bahrain is unveiling ‘Together, Towards a Conscious Planet,’ a series of environment-focused activities with collaborative art and music performances.
Eminent artists like Abbas Almosawi and Abdulla Haji will participate in the event which will take place at Seef Mall. On Thursday, June 9, an art exhibition focused on the environment will be launched as well.
“This day is a reminder that we should all treat our Mother Earth the same we would each want our mothers to be treated,” environmentalist Kai Miethig told the GDN. “And, this is not just on World Environment Day but rather ‘every day, every month and every year’. Society must encourage an ‘eco’ mind-set rather than an ‘ego’ mind-set because after all, we are nothing without nature.”
This morning, the Britus International School will also be showcasing environment-focused projects as part of its grand exhibition. Students have recycled waste to create unique art pieces which will be highlighted during the event.
In addition, at 6pm today, the French embassy is organising a free Green Talk at Alliance Francaise in Isa Town, featuring Roots and Shoots organic farm manager Andrea Pucciarelli, environmental consultant Etaf Chehade and personal stylist Aysha Mattar.
Tomorrow at 7pm, the embassy will be showing the movie Red Soil which highlights the impact of waste and pollution on the environment.
The ramp-up in environmental efforts comes at the heels of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister’s landmark address at the UN Climate Change Conference.
Held last year in Glasgow in the UK, he had stressed the importance of adapting to climate change, when announcing that Bahrain would cut its emissions by 30 per cent by 2035. “Our 2035 targets also include carbon removal solutions by quadrupling mangrove coverage, doubling tree coverage in Bahrain, and directly investing in carbon capture technologies, which we believe is essential,” he added.
naman@gulfweekly.com
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