WALVIS BAY – Walvis Bay mayor Trevino Forbes has urged coastal residents to come up in numbers and join the rest of the world to commemorate World Ocean Day 2022, which will be held in the town.
According to Forbes, this year’s commemorations will be under the theme, ‘Revitalisation: Collective Action for the Ocean’, and it will be attended by President Hage Geingob on Friday.
World Oceans Day is officially recognised by the United Nations and commemorated annually on 8 June.
The celebrations provide an opportunity for global citizens to reflect on the benefits and personal connection to the ocean as well as to take action that contributes toward a healthy ocean through conservation and protection.
It further reminds us that reducing pollution in all our waterways is a year-round commitment that all humanity should take full responsibility for.
“The president will be our guest of honour; hence, we invite all residents to attend in large numbers to create further awareness of the ocean that has become the lifeline of our coastal households,” he appealed.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the initial celebrations will kick off today with a clean-up campaign in partnership with various fishing companies, parastatals and community members.
The clean up will start at 08h00 from Independence Beach.
A World Oceans Day expo will also be held at the Walvis Bay municipality and will include ocean-related exhibitions, a career fair focusing on the maritime industry, seafood cooking demonstrations by professional chefs, cook-off competitions, wine tasting and canvas painting, among others.
In the Namibian context, marine and coastal industries – mining, transport, tourism, research, fishing and aquaculture have always been an important part of the Namibian economy.
These traditional activities have been growing over the years, while new and exciting uses of the maritime domain are emerging.
Such developments, however, put our oceans increasingly under threat from human impacts, and this is further exacerbated by the effects of climate change and global warming.
Thus, conservation and sustainable use of marine resources is critical.
Protecting our oceans is protecting our livelihoods – and through collaborative efforts, we can all safeguard our oceans.
– edeklerk@nepc.com.na