Essay competition calls on learners to write on coastal biodiversity and conservation

IF you were the President of the Republic of Namibia, what would you do to protect our coastal environment? The Namibian Coast Conservation and Management (NACOMA) project poses this challenge to Grade 10 and 11 learners from the Kunene, Erongo, Karas and Hardap regions to enter essays into its competition with excellent rewards and wide-ranging awareness raising.

The NACOMA project under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism has decided to extend the closing date for entries from 28 February till 30 April 2010. Mr. Rod Braby, Coordinator of the project, said learners need more time to do extensive research and to suggest practical solutions.

Mr. Braby said Grade 10 and 11 learners should write essays of about 500 words on how they would safeguard the coastal biodiversity and environment. They would have to highlight the threats facing the Namibian coast and propose actions and policies to preserve the life in and on the beaches, the desert, wetlands, riverbeds and sea.

Mr. Braby pointed out that the essay competition would also support and create further awareness on the coast as the United Nations proclaimed 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity with the slogan: Biodiversity is life, biodiversity is our life.

On its dedicated website (http://www.cbd.int/2010/about/) the United Nations states that this year should be “a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives”. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth.

Mr. Braby said the hyper-arid Namibian coastal ecosystem is home to a significant and unique array of biological and ecological diversity, including uniquely adapted plants and animals, rich estuarine fauna and a high diversity of migratory shore and seabirds. In particular, Namibia’s coastal zone is considered as a refuge for a number of endangered species.

The winning essay will be published in Flamingo, Air Namibia’s in-flight magazine, and the winner will receive N$ 1000 from Venture Publications, publishers of the magazine. The winner will also go on a guided tour in the dune belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, sponsored by Living Desert Adventures.

The second placed writer will receive an amount of N$500 and a similar desert trip for two persons by Tommy’s Tours, while the learner in third place will get N$250.00 and a three-hour marine boat trip for two persons from Walvis Bay, sponsored by Levo Dolphin Tours and Chalets.

Mr. Braby said the project would shortly disseminate more information about the competition and where to do research, to all coastal secondary schools. They may also visit the project’s website: www.nacoma.org.na Grade 10 and 11 learners at the coast are urged to commence with their research and start writing. They should submit their entries in hard copies, titled Essay Competition, plus contact details, to the NACOMA project office in Swakopmund (Sam Nujoma Avenue, Standard Bank Building, 1st Floor, Room 8) or mail it to P.O. Box 7018, Swakopmund on or before 30 April 2010.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Rod Braby, Coordinator of the NACOMA Project,Tel: 064 – 403 905, Cell: 0812460996 and e-mail: [email protected].