Week of Activities Planned for World Environment Day

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA) will celebrate World Environment Day, June 5, with weeklong educational activities aimed at raising awareness of environmental problems on a global as well as local level.

World Environment Day seeks to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and action to resolve the serious environmental problems facing the world today.

The First Environmental Film Festival will begin on Wednesday June 4 in the Orientation Hall of the Pedro Mir Library at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD). The festival is an effort on the part of both organizations to make younger generations, the academic sector and decision makers aware of the threat of climate change and the challenges it presents, according to the Ministry’s Communications Office.

The festival will go on in the main UASD extensions of campuses in the north, south and eastern regions of the country. The ministry will show 15 films and documentaries made by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and other institutions.

On Thursday June 5 at 9:30 a.m. there will be a Mass in the Santo Domingo Cathedral in the Colonial Zone with the support of the Ecological Pastor of the Catholic Church. Following the Mass participants will march down El Conde Street toward the Altar of the Nation (Altar de la Patria) to place a floral offering.

On Friday June 6, in advance of World Oceans Day (June 8), speeches on the state of the DR’s seas will be given at the Santa Teresita School in Santo Domingo and two other schools in San Pedro de Macorís.

Throughout the week, SEMARENA employees will be visiting media outlets to talk about the environmental situation and the importance of all citizens developing ecologically sound habits.

Some of the Ministry’s projects include a visit to the recuperation project of the Nazao River that has been mined. It will undertake the reforestation of part of the Haina-Duey river basin, which is one of the main sources of water for Santo Domingo’s aqueduct. In addition, it will plant trees in parts of Polo (Barahona) during the Organic Coffee Festival at the weekend. The inauguration of a Visitors Center at the Armando Bermúdez National Park in Manabao is also scheduled for this week.

World Environment Day seeks to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and action to resolve the serious environmental problems facing the world today. Each year UNEP selects a host country and a theme to develop the year’s campaign. This year’s 2008 country is New Zealand and the campaign slogan is “Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy.” Recognizing that climate change is becoming the defining issue of our era, UNEP is asking countries, companies and communities to focus on greenhouse gas emissions and how to reduce them.