Wellington Park residents to help protect mangroves

― Several trained in environmental sampling in Berbice

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Several residents of Wellington Park in East Berbice-Corentyne have been trained to accurately assess and manage the Wellington Park Mangrove Reserve Restoration Area.

The residents, along with representatives from the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute, Neighbourhood Democratic Council, and a Range Officer were trained in the appropriate procedures for data sampling, collection, packaging and transporting.

As part of the exercise, they also received literature and were involved in interactive sessions on how to properly conduct sampling and testing if necessary, on sediment (soil), surface water, vegetation and in/vertebrate sampling and in-situ testing. They were also taken to the site where hands-on practicals were conducted.

EPA’s Project Coordinator Timothy Broomes said the training was part of a larger regional project in Suriname, Trinidad, and Brazil and is being funded by the UN Environmental Programme. He added that the main objective is to create an effective management plan to mitigate the effects of pollution and to provide proper means of rehabilitation and restoration of coastal mangrove.

According to Broomes, Wellington Park was chosen because of a noticeable decline in the mangrove species over the years in that community. The contributing factors were determined through initial checks but Broomes said they need to do more tests to confirm those findings and develop an appropriate plan.

Dean of UG’s Faculty of Earth and Environment Sciences, Dr. Temitope D. Timothy Oyedotun said the goal of the workshop was to collect samples, conduct testing, and ultimately create a database that provides information to be used for detection and assessment of the possible impact of land-based pollutants on the environment

The Environmental Sampling Training workshop forms part of the CLME+ region project.

The CLME+ is a five-year project implemented by the United Nations that helps participating countries from two large marine ecosystems (LMEs) to improve the management of their shared Living Marine Resources through an Ecosystem-Based Management approach. The two marine systems are the North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem and the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem. The grouping of those two LMEs is referred to as the CLME+ region.

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