Page 33 - IB MAY 2017

We Say

Protect the environment

If we are not careful and ignore our environment, we will pay dearly. Photo: AP/Rob Griffith
PROTECTION of the environment must At Togoru, Navua, the McGoon family earth’s protective layer.
be foremost in our minds as we watch graves were part of the vast expanse of As we mark Environment Week, it is
the gradual demise of smaller island an estate which ranged over acres of important that all people – regardless
states like Tuvalu and Kiribati. grassland. of age – make every possible effort to
These Pacific island states have started But the sea has shown no respect for protect the world in which we live.
to succumb to global warming and could the dead, encroaching upon the estate Where it is possible we must walk
disappear this century if sea levels creep until those who once rested in the cem- instead of taking a car.
slowly but surely higher each year. etery must now lie in the waves. It is not difficult to take a shopping
In Papua New Guinea, sea water has Scientists claim that the steady ad- bag to the supermarket instead of relying
started to seep through the ground on vance of the sea is due in no small part on the shop assistants to provide free
some of the lower, outlying islands, de- to melting ice in the polar regions. plastic bags which clog drains, litter the
stroying forever areas of rich farm land The ice is melting at an unusually neighbourhood and take more than 100
and depriving islanders of food sources. fast pace because of depleted levels of years to become part of the soil in which
Erosion of the shoreline is obvious ozone – which should offer a protective they are buried.
on many of our islands. The smaller the barrier around the earth to keep harmful We must plant flowers, trees and
island, the more obvious are the ravages radiation out of the atmosphere. vegetables in pots or in our backyards.
of the sea. Experts further claim that increased There is also a need to ensure that our
On Vanuabalavu, villagers can show carbon emissions are the main cause of homes, neighbourhoods and municipali-
how the sea has crept closer to Saqani ozone depletion. ties are kept as clean as possible.
Settlement in the last 10 years. Our increased use of fuel, manufacture This is our environment.
Coconut trees which once stood on dry of plastics and continued destruction It will only be as kind to us as we are
land now have a home in the sea. of forests adds to this depletion of the to the environment.
l We Say is compiled with the oversight of the editor.

Islands Business, May 201733