Reef project observes Earth Day

Across the country, other environmental agencies were also celebrating Earth Day. In Belize City, participants in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System Project invited community leaders, students and the general public to attend a chain of presentations on Belize’s marine environment. While attendance was good, according to Noel Jacobs, the project’s regional co-ordinator, appreciation for the importance of Earth Day has dropped off.

Noel Jacobs, Regional Co-ordinator, M.B.R.S.P.

“I think to a certain extent the consciousness does not seem to have the same vigour it had in the past. And it may be necessary for us to invest more time in the awareness and the consciousness of these issues on all levels. And it may be useful I think to use a different approach and start at a younger age, target people in primary school, secondary school, as opposed to just do complicated public awareness materials that people at the low levels might not understand.”

“We are doing a series of presentations and discussions, mainly informative, where we have participants from institutions both government and non-government. We have from educational institutions, schools at all different levels, we have some regional people here as well, we have people from the Belize City Council, a wide spectrum of guests and participants. It’s mainly informative, with space a for interaction between the presenters and guests, on all issues, whether they may be national, regional or international that may be of relevance to our topic, which is Earth Day.”

The Mesoamerican Barrier reef System Project, housed at the Coastal Resources Building on the Newton Barracks, is charged with monitoring the health of the reefs extending from Isla Contoy in Mexico to the Bay Islands of Honduras.