(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Students government and private company employees join clean-up campaign marking Arab Environment Day
School students alongside government and private company employees gathered on Wednesday morning at Al Wathba Wetland Reserve for a clean-up campaign marking Arab Environment Day which was first instituted in 1986 by a meeting in Tunisia of Arab Ministers responsible for the environment.
The campaign was organised by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) and British Petroleum sponsor of the Sustainable Schools Initiative (SSI) who managed to attract 161 SSI students and 35 employees.
“At EAD one of our priorities is to raise public awareness about the hazards of pollution. Through this clean-up campaign we are directing people towards a positive attitude in maintaining a clean and sound environment” said Ahmed Baharoon executive director of the Environmental Science Information and Outreach sector at EAD.
The morning started at 9am when everyone arrived at Al Wathba Reserve about 50 kilometres outside Abu Dhabi.
The wetland famous for its breeding of flamingos and rich bird life and opened recently to the public by EAD was littered with harmful plastic and all kinds of rubbish. Over the next two hours until 11am the participants collected 483kg of waste mostly plastic wood metal glass and paper flowing in through water channels from the neighbourhood.
“The clean-up campaign will take place on an annual basis and will provide a platform where SSI students teachers and directors from schools along with partners and stakeholders can participate in taking actions toward promoting sustainability in the emirate of Abu Dhabi” pointed out Baharoon.
The SSI encourages students to not only reduce their ecological footprint but also to increase their ‘ecological handprint’ by participating in the different activities.
silviakhaleejtimes.com