Media team cleans up Anun Island

PARTICIPANTS from a sea series programme coordinated by Washington-based NGO SeaWeb International, participated in a cleanathon at Anun Island situated southwest of mainland Manus.
The cleanathon was suggested when the participants, a media team consisting of three journalists and four final year UPNG students were visiting environmental conservation sites on Mbuke Island in Manus last week.
The trip, organised by Seaweb, was the practical leg of a six-month sea series programme that the media team had been attending.
The participants learnt about climate change, marine conservation and how it affected the livelihood of villages on the islands and the coast.
The participants were joined by villages from Mbuke Island who were excited because this was a rare occasion where a group of trainee journalists and media personnel had visited their island to share on the climate change and environment issues affecting them.
“This is an opportunity where we can bring the journalists to see first hand and mingle with the realities of environmental issues,” PNG Seaweb programme associate Francis Gabriel said.
“We visited the Mbuke Island people and since we spent the night on Anun Island, it is just fair that we clean a portion of the island shores from the excess logs and leaves that have been washed up by the changing tides.
“We are happy to see that the journalism students and the media personnel have related well with the locals, thus making our efforts of awareness a lot easier.
“The cleanathon initiative popped up while on the island and we just want to give an extra effort to help the locals keep up the importance of conserving the environment for the survival of the future generation,” Gabriel said.
He added that all the rubbish collected were heaped together to form an already existing sea wall that was built earlier by the locals to avoid the eroding coastlines caused by rising tides.
Mbuke Island councillor John Tokios said they were overwhelmed with the visit by the Seaweb team.
“The least we can do is to work together with NGOs to help conserve our marine resources so that they can be sustainable for our livelihood.”