“Ecosystem Restoration – let’s take a step to heal what we have broken”.
I am so thankful to you all for this wonderful opportunity to be part of a global event celebration held in a rural community outside of Honiara.
Ladies and gentlemen, World Environment Day (WED) is a global event that is observed on 5th June every year to raise awareness about environment and the damage through our activities do to it. More importantly, today is a day to make us more accountable for the environmental harm we do. A day we seek to generate a sense of responsibility towards the environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, with today’s event as one of your partners to Solomon Islands Climate Action Network (SICAN) I am pleased to say that Manawai CHS is so privilege to be able to host this global event at this wonderful school. On this note, I would like to join my other partners to acknowledge and salute the school leadership and management for accepting and offering your school to host the event.
The WED is a day to address the issues faced by every environment factors-water, ocean, rivers, animal species, plants, global warming, climate change and coral reefs. It is a well-known fact that the unsustainable consumption of natural resources by our human activities have significantly damaged the environment and the degradation is still going on at a fast pace.
Therefore, it is my responsibility, your responsibility to protect the environment from getting tainted and polluted. Environmental education therefore is important to create environmental awareness which ultimately will lead to environmental conservation and I am thankful to the people of Ahetaha Water Conservation Association (AWCA) and Tookina Tribal Land Conservation (TTLCA) for taken the lead in this initiative within the locality of Manawai Harbour as a result, today’s WED celebration marks the progress of growth for the seed you’ve planted and it’s a sign of progress in creating partnership and Networking with the school. Your participation today also indicates a sign of growth in understanding the importance of the Environment. A history in a making and first of its kind pulling other neighbouring communities to be part of the celebration. Manawai CHS as a whole is also venturing into new networks apart from its usually educational fraternity program.
This year’s theme for WED is “Ecosystem Restoration” which briefly serves to mean: preventing, halting and retreating the damage caused by human activities and finally healing our nature. So, in our small ways as stakeholders and partners let’s take a step to heal what we have broken in order to celebrate the day meaningfully with the theme.
Importance of WED
As custodians, we all aware that the biodiversity within our locality is continuously under pressure from habitat destruction, overexploitation, waste pollution, invasive species and climate change. Therefore, as a network we face this threat with the common concern by all members keeping our natural environment intact to equally benefit our current and future generations and all the organisms that live in these areas. In terms of going forward, will continue to see if there is sustenance by SIRA office in supporting Manawai CHS and the good people of this community in the future.
Therefore, at the moment as partners and stakeholders to this very important event today we must make concerted effort if we want to take Manawai CHS to a new level of wider network if we want to explore new opportunities when it comes to understanding Environment and conservation within our communities. Today both the students and parents of the school have witnessed another chapter teaching-learning style.
So, what does it mean for us ‘to empower paradigm shift of thinking through the WED celebration in a local community?’ Is it for positive change? If so, then how do we do that?” I believe we do have a responsibility now to play in providing awareness to educate our people in the communities. Solomon Islands Rangers Association through such collaboration is ready and more than willing to give support and empower positive change through the spirit of Environmental conservation. The SIRA in few months’ time will be initiating and delivering a life changing project for the school going children. Hence, as implementing partner of the event, we are appealing for cooperation from students to be the agent of change.
To sum-up, I would like to add that to be an agent of change is equally to lead the “Ecosystem Restoration”. So, start educating these learners and be the change and the source of inspiration for others in your homes, schools, communities, work places and with your various contacts. Before I finish, let me settle down with a famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi’s word that thoughtfully says and I quote: “Earth provide enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed”. Ladies and gentlemen with this beautiful quote, we should join our hands together to make a great effort towards the preservation of our environment. Hence, to keep earth in its tranquil and pristine form, it is very essential to conserve nature and its resources in their present form, for quality and quantity. Happy WED celebration to you all.
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