Coastal Awareness Week 2019 Kicks Off

Coastal Awareness Week 2019 got underway today as the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute made its media rounds across Belize City.  The weeklong activities will include a trivia competition for primary schools, as well as the annual “Run for the Coast” on Saturday.  The purpose for commemorating Coastal Awareness Week is to sensitize the public on the importance of Belize’s coast and marine resources.  Chief Executive Officer Chantalle Samuels explains the theme for this year’s celebration.

Chantalle Samuels

Chantalle Samuels, Chief Executive Officer, CZMAI

“This is the fifth annual observance of Coastal Awareness Week being celebrated under the theme “Building Coastal Resilience through Innovation”.  The week starts today and will run through until Saturday, November second with an activity occurring on each day.  It’s very important in our work to engage the general public so that they can have a medium to participate actively and meaningfully in coastal management issues.  You might be asking, why coastal resilience?  Why focus on innovation?  We believe that the two work hand in hand or need to work hand in hand in order for us to see the types of outcomes socially, environmentally and economically.  We are a country that’s blessed with natural resources and our base for economic activities are the very natural resources that we depend on.  Our livelihoods are, you know, intimately linked to natural resources as we see increasing threats from human activities, from the adverse impacts of climate change.  It’s important now more than ever, to build our coastal resilience to these changes and we found that if we embrace innovation which can include advances in technology or changes in management approaches, we can see the desired and intended outcomes that we so desperately need now.”