MEET THE YOUNG ECO-WARRIORS FROM GRENADA | #OPBEACHCLEAN

GRENADA ECO WARRIORS, READY FOR OPERATION BEACH CLEAN

GRENADA, West Indies: Meet Grenada’s eco-warriors of the future situated on the small Caribbean West Indies island of Grenada the students of Mt. Parnassus Junior School will be volunteering with their school assistant Mandy pictured below this April 22nd 2017 for the International Earth Day event hosted by I.A.R.F.A. (Image: Mt. Parnassus Junior School Grenada, image copyright.) 

Image: Students presenting their mission for Earth Day 2017, Operation Beach Clean.

Operation Beach Clean hosted by myself this April 22nd 2017 has already attracted people from England, Netherlands, Oman, Viet Nam, Thailand, Australia, Greece, and now children from the West Indies island of Grenada which is excellent news.

Image: Teaching assistant and teacher organizing and hosting the youth beach clean.

The Mt. Parnassus Junior School students will be taking part in the two day event cleaning a large stretch of their native islands coastline of which its expected a lot of plastic and waste will be collected due to the islands strategic geographical point.

Students will be collecting waste, monitoring the highest number of individual marine waste items so environmentalists can approach governments and manufacturers to lobby for changes, for the benefit of both animals and our future human generations too. The whole purpose of these events isn’t just to protect wildlife, but to also preserve our children’s future for years to come.

Furthermore the students of Mt. Parnassus Junior School will document on beach cleanliness, types of micro-plastics located on the beaches, pollution, and the deaths of any species of bird and fish found plus much more. For more information please visit our Facebook forum here.

Image: School presentation, Grenada, West indies.

Around 150 bird species are on the island including the Grenada dove – one of the world’s most endangered bird. At the other end of the spectrum is the kite which, in the Caribbean, is widespread. There are a few havens for wildlife in Grenada, including Lake Antoine, Mount Hartman National Park, and the salt pond at the La Sagesse estuary.

To name but a few of the 150 species, birds you might see in Grenada include the limpkin, black-necked stilt, heron, mangrove cuckoo, tern, the common snipe, brown-crested flycatcher, Caribbean coot, northern jacana, three species of hummingbirds, cattle egret, frigatebird, boobies, bananaquit, mockingbird, osprey and the barn owl.

Sea turtles tend to nest at beaches in the north of Grenada, Bathways Beach is a favourite spot from March every year (in the Levera National Park). Giant leatherback turtles, hawksbill turtles, green turtles and, somewhat rarer, loggerhead turtles can be seen in Grenada.

Between the months of December and April in particular sees Grenada’s waters frequented by different whale species, including Orca (Killer) whales, Curvier beaked, humpback and Sperm whales. Around fifteen species in all have been logged which swim in the waters of Grenada. Year-round you can see Pilot, Bryde’s, Sperm, Pygmy and Sei whales. Several different varieties of dolphins can be spotted offshore too.

The large variety of fish in Grenada waters, to name some of them, include the yellow tail snapper, bar jacks, spotted drums, frogfish, scorpion fish, banded jaw fish, pipefish, grey angelfish, horse eye jacks, Atlantic spade fish, grouper, great barracuda, As well as seahorses, stingrays, Moray eels, spotted eagle rays and even Manta rays. For more information please click the link here.

Currently the problems of plastic waste littering the island of Grenada is considered very problematic - and to know these young children will be taking part in such an important international earth day environmental event, and are already eager to make change happen - is fantastic. The youth of  Mt. Parnassus Junior School aren’t just setting an example, they are demonstrating their love for their island, flora and fauna - something many adults are still failing to at.

Given the islands’ geological and hydrological conditions, local stakeholders that are working to reduce Grenada’s waste problem expect that most of the plastic bottle litter as well as some of the plastic bottle landfill waste will sooner or later end up in the sea, negatively impacting the islands’ marine ecosystem. Furthermore as I speak nine endemic species of fish and five native birds are already on the verge of complete wild extinction. For more information please view the source here.

I’m so pleased and proud to know that children will be getting involved this April 22nd for the I.A.R.F.A Earth Day Event 2017 - Operation Beach Clean. If you are a school teacher and would like to organize a beach clean to conclude my ten year scientific study on marine and land animal deaths please contact me in person by clicking the link here.

More on the Grenada Beach Clean event will be made public soon. Watch this space.

With much thanks to Mandy, the school children participating, and for everyone that have unselfishly come forward to volunteer their time to clean our oceans on the biggest environmental event of the year.

Thank you. 

Dr Jose C. Depre. 

Environmental, Botanical and Human Scientist.