St Lucia Dept of Sustainable Development highlights importance of Oceans on World Oceans Day 2022

St Lucia: The Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Saint Lucia, depends on the ocean and its resources for tourism and recreation, food, transportation and shipping, religion, and medicine. The ocean regulates the climate, which determines rainfall, droughts, and flooding.

The plants grown therein also generate oxygen which helps the world to breathe.

The importance of these natural resources is marked through World Oceans Day, which was officially documented by the United Nations (UN) in the year 2008, and is observed every year on the 8th of June as a day.

World Ocean Day highlights the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspires every individual to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources. The day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans and highlight the impacts of human actions on the ocean. The International day also supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG14, which addresses “Life Below Water”). It fosters public interest in the appreciation, sustainable development, and management of the ocean and its resources.

This year, World Oceans Day highlighted the theme of “Revitalisation: collective action for the ocean”, emphasising the benefits provided by the water bodies.

On World Oceans Day 2022, the Department of Sustainable Development launched a few activities, such as –

1. The department has planned to organise World Oceans Day Art Competition, highlighting the 2022 theme for World Oceans Day. This would be open to all students between the ages of 8 and 19 years and will be promoted through schools island-wide.

2. Department of Fisheries (DOF) and the Plastic Waste Free Islands (PWFI) Project will organise the school visits and presentations.