Previous Story
Students spend summer exploring land pollution issues
|
Posted on Aug 10 2011
Students spent the summer exploring Saipan’s conservation areas to learn about the importance of watershed health for the island’s people and coral reefs.
Through the Ridge to Reef Rangers Program, a collaborative project of the National Park Service and the CNMI Coral Reef Initiative, 25 students spent one week learning about the importance of watershed health. They hiked the Laolao re-vegetation area, snorkeled the north end of Paupau Beach, surveyed the Garapan watershed, hiked the Banzai Trail, and explored Bird Island Marine Protected Area.
“Our goal is to impart the importance of watershed health and water quality—not only for our reefs but for ourselves. We hope to influence positive changes at the household level,” said Lisa Huynh Eller, federal programs coordinator at the Division of Environmental Quality. “We teach students how to identify pollution sources in their homes and villages and what steps they can take to reduce these sources of pollution.”
The program’s coordinators are evaluating its effectiveness through pre- and post-surveys of the participants and their parents. The results of those surveys will be summarized in the coming months. A final report will be posted on cnmicoralreef.net.
Resource managers and experts from DEQ, CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife, Coastal Resources Management Office, and National Park Service led the field trips around the island. High school volunteers from the Youth Conservation Corps and the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps accompanied the students as they explored and learned about the island’s natural resources.
The Ridge to Reef Rangers program is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program and Pacific Historic Parks (formerly the Arizona Memorial Museum Association). [B][I](DEQ)[/I][/B]
