LOL – Lauren on Location – Earth Day 2010 – Lauren gives a talk, cleans up and discusses dangerous toilets.

Thursday the 22nd April 2010 was Earth Day; originally founded in 1970 in the US by Senator G. Nelson it is now celebrated by more than 175 countries worldwide and is designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment.

Earlier in the week, Helen King TSRCP’s Education and Community Officer had spoken to the Barangay Captain (Rex) who had agreed to participate in a series of lectures given by ourselves to the Barangay Officials on earth day designed to highlight the importance of coral reefs, the effect of global warming on coral reefs, the importance of the coral reef to elasmobranches and waste management strategies to protect the reefs and to help prevent global warming continue at it’s current rate. The Barangay is the Filipino word for village, and so the Barangay Officials are responsible for things occurring within their area. It was fantastic news and an honour to be allowed to take part in this event (I spoke on the importance of coral reefs to elasmobranches).
We also gave a similar series of lectures to the local kids of all ages and got them involved in a beach cleanup, the day was a huge success everyone had a fantastic time and hopefully learnt something useful. Also some promising initial discussions (prompted by Claire Horseman’s lecture – a visiting Science Officer from Coral Cay Conservation) began with the Barangay Captain about setting up Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s) around Malapascua Island.

Beach – Cleanup Crew