EPPD continues to celebrate WED 2012!

World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event held on June 5, aimed at being the biggest, most widely celebrated international day for positive environmental action. 

WED activities take place all year around and encourages global participation. In commemoration of World Environment Day 2012, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, as the national focal point for several Environmental Conventions, initiated several activities in various schools located within the vicinity of the EPPD’s El Socorro Offices. 

The EPPD, in partnership with Recycling in Motion (RIM), the project facilitator, aimed to raise the awareness of environmentally sustainable habits in school populations by helping them to reduce some of the municipal waste they create. In this regard, the Ministry initiated plastic recycling programmes in several schools. 

EPPD staff members with students of the El Socorro Hindu School

The importance of recycling was also impressed upon students by an interactive presentation session by Ms Nalini Sooklal, Waste Management Specialist of the EPPD. Students were informed that recycling activities can reduce the need for raw materials used to produce new products; reduce the amounts of waste going into our landfills and also reduce energy consumption, thereby preserving natural resources for the future.

Over a three day period spanning September 26-28, 2012, the El Socorro Hindu, El Socorro North Government and El Socorro South Government primary schools as well as the Barataria South Secondary School launched their plastic recycling endeavours, which was met with great enthusiasm from both staff and students alike. The El Socorro Islamia TIA School was also included in the exercise and a Green Space initiative was pioneered at this school. This was aimed at inculcating into students an appreciation of the intrinsic values of green spaces whilst introducing to them basic cultivation practices.

Overall, it is hoped that these initiatives would not only have tangible environmental benefits but also create environmentally aware and responsible young citizens as well.

The excited faces of students from the El Socorro North Government School

This place is a Zoo!

World Environment Day 2012 was commemorated with an open day and petting zoo at our office building! 

Staffs of the EPPD and the Green Fund Executing Unit of the Ministry of Housing and the Environment, along with the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean Region (BCRC-Trinidad and Tobago), decided to give the public a truly hands-on experience this year as we commemorated World Environment Day 2012 at the El Socorro offices.

We held an Open Day that had a multi-pronged effect: it allowed the residents, businesses and schools within the El Socorro area to become more acquainted with the mandates and activities of the different environmental offices housed in our building, whilst also commemorating the occasion of World Environment Day (June 5^th, 2012). 

As we interacted with the public, we were able to impress upon them the need for environmental conservation, preservation and rehabilitation, as well as sensitize both adults and kids on some of the local species of biodiversity such as the ocelot. The Open Day also commemorated the 1^st Anniversary of the EPPD’s relocation to the El Socorro area from Port of Spain in 2011.

 
The Open Day was well received by all, especially the children who were most impressed with our “Mini Petting Zoo” which was provided by the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago.