Students and divers collect waste from Al Mamzar Beach area as part of SMD’s ‘Because We Care’ initiative
SHARJAH, FEB 16, 2015:
Students from schools across Sharjah swapped their textbooks for
garbage bags and gloves today and collected litter from the shoreline
around Al Mamzar Beach.
They were joined
by two teams of divers from Sharjah Police Rescue Unit and Sharjah
Aquarium who gathered discarded waste from the seabed during the Marine
Environment Clean-Up, organised by the Sharjah Museums Department (SMD)
as part of its Because We Care social responsibility initiative.
The annual beach
clean-up aims to highlight the importance of protecting Sharjah’s
marine environment by highlighting the amount and types of waste people
discard around the coast-line.
“It’s amazing
just how much waste we find each year, and it really shows that we need
to change the public’s mentality,” said Rashid Al Shamsi, SMD’s
Acting Curator of Sharjah Aquarium. “Today’s beach clean-up is about
educating the next generation that it’s wrong to use our precious
coastline as a place to discard of garbage and unwanted items.
“Our hope is
that they take away with them an understanding of how harmful all this
waste is to the marine environment, and spread the word by talking to
their friends and families.”
About 120
students, supervised by a small team of community volunteers, took part
in the clean-up. As they scoured the shoreline, divers from Sharjah
Aquarium and Sharjah Police Rescue Unit searched the seabed.
A crane was on
hand to help the diving teams lift any particularly heavy submerged
items. In previous years, they have recovered objects including sofas,
chairs and even an abandoned boat.
All the waste
collected during today’s search will be weighed and sent for recycling
or disposal by Bee’ah, the waste management company. Last year’s
clean-up uncovered an incredible five tons and 150 kilograms of waste
from the area around Kalba Port.
The students also got the chance to take part in recycling workshops and an educational ‘Awareness Gallery’ hosted on-site.
The Marine
Environment Clean-Up was organised by SMD and Sharjah Aquarium in
cooperation with several partners including the Ministry of Environment
and Water, the Sharjah Environment and Natural Reserves Authority,
Sharjah Educational Zone and the ‘Happiest Nation’ Volunteering Team,
Sharjah Police, Sharjah Civil Defense and Emirates Diving Centre.
Manal Ataya,
Director General of the SMD, said: “We are proud to once again be
working with our partners to provide this successful event promoting a
responsible attitude toward the marine eco-system.
“At the Sharjah
Museums Department, we believe our role as guardians of Sharjah’s
heritage starts with preserving our natural environment.
“Education is part of the solution, and through our Because We Care
campaign we try to foster a strong sense of social and environmental
responsibility among citizens, particularly younger members of the
community.
“Since launching Because We Care in 2009, we have staged almost 200 events and projects aimed at promoting responsible citizenship.”
-ENDS-
About the Sharjah Museums Department:
His Highness Dr.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council
and Ruler of Sharjah established the Sharjah Museums Department (SMD) in
2006. SMD manages more than 16 sites in the Emirate, covering most
types of art, Islamic culture, archaeology, heritage, sciences,
aquaculture and the history of the emirate of Sharjah and the region.
SMD aims to provide
the highest standards of museum services through its museums, galleries,
educational and research programmes, social communication programmes
for Sharjah ‘s residents and visitors from the region. The vision of the
department is to improve understanding, appreciation and respect for
Sharjah‘s identity and the value of its cultural and natural heritage
locally and internationally.
For more information, please visit the website: www.sharjahmuseums.ae
