Date : Saturday – Sunday , 11 – 12 Ogos 2018
Venue : Publika
The Marine Group is bringing the sea to Kuala Lumpur this August with a host of activities in conjunction with World Oceans Day (WOD) 2018. From exhibitions to workshops and talks to games, all things marine will be featured at the two-day event, which will be held at Publika.
Among the objectives of the event are to raise awareness about issues related to the ocean’s health and the importance of coral reefs, seagrass and sharks.
“We want to get everyone to appreciate the beauty of the ocean and how we are linked to it,” said WOD 2018 coordinator Tan Whei Li. “We also want to encourage people to get involved in preventing marine litter.”
In particular, plastic will be a focus. In this, the Marine Group is continuing with its marine plastic pollution campaign, ‘Towards Plastic-Free Seas’, which it began on WOD 2017. The SIG had a good run recently at Raptor Watch in Tanjung Tuan where it reached out to about 1,000 participants and got about 400 pledges to reduce plastic use, including photo pledges to reduce the use of straws.
For WOD 2018, the Marine Group is issuing an invitation to participate to any group involved in marine conservation and education as well as vendors dealing with reef-safe and biodegradable options to plastic.
“We want this to be educational as well as fun,” said Tan. “The sea covers three-quarters of the planet and provides important services. This includes the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat and jobs for millions of people. What we do on a daily basis here on land is affecting marine ecosystems as well as wildlife. We can do better for our oceans.”
Text by SL Wong, Marine Group