The Marine Environment

Malo e lelei from Vava’u in the beautiful Kingdom of Tonga!!!

Last week was an awesome week for VEPA with myself and Elana heading out to the local high schools for the education program we are running as part of our Media & Education campaign aimed at secondary school students here in Vava’u.  

The July theme is “The Marine Environment” which discusses things such as the oceans, coral reefs and fish and their roles and functions within the biosphere. Additionally we educated them on threats to each of these systems and the consequences of not protecting them. For example we discussed the impacts of overfishing and indiscriminate fishing practices such as netting which is an extremely important topic for the people of Tonga who rely heavily on their reefs and oceans as a food source! 

Presenting at Seineha to the biology form 5 and 6 students 

Another critical topic we delved into is the issue of marine pollution. The children were literally gobsmacked when the consequences of improper waste management were highlighted to them. Not only does it affect the oceans and the organisms which inhabit them but it can also have adverse effects on human health, their food sources and their economy!! Global warming and climate change, in particular the effects of ocean acidification and ocean warming , was another big topic discussed to give the students a bigger picture of what is happening around the world and how it can affect them in their own backyards!!! Overall it was an excellent learning experience for the students and hopefully they got something out of it. They seemed very interested so we are really looking forward to moving onto next months’ theme!!!!

The theme for August is “The Coastal Environment” when things like mangroves, intertidal zones and benthic organisms will be discussed as we start to head away from the oceans and onto land. It’s going to be fun!!! Stay tuned for more updates.

The students at Kalana College enjoyed the presentation

Malo ‘aupito toki sio!!!

Damian (Tamiano)