Every year the Mamanuca Environment Society conducts a refresher course with all its eleven member resorts.
The participants of the refresher course are the staff of various departments who are keen on learning about the environment, coral reefs, climate change and waste management.
MES conducted the first refresher for the year at Navini Island Resort on the 30th of July with seven participants.
Navini is one of the smallest private island resorts in the Mamanuca’s and one can walk around the island in 10minutes. The island boasts white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and colourful coral reefs.
MES staff travelled to Navini on the day and made haste to complete set up by 9am and begin with the course.
The first session began with a brief history and background on the work conducted by MES in the Mamanuca region. This was followed by a presentation on waste management. Both presentations were conducted by MES project officer Soro Seru. At the end of the waste management presentation, the participants took part in an activity of sorting waste and presenting to the rest of the group, the importance of sorting waste and its advantages.
Session two began after a short break over morning tea. Session two saw Marica, MES assistant project manager presenting on the Importance of trees and reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation. This was followed by session three, where coverage was on the importance of coral reefs.
After an hours break from lunch. Session four was again facilitated by Marica, on the topic of Disaster Risk Management, followed by session five on Endemic and Endangered plants and animals of Fiji. The course ended with session six on the global hot topic Climate Change facilitated by MES project manager Betani Salusalu.
Through out the one day course, participants showed a lot of interest and curiosity by posing questions at the end of every session or requesting further clarifications on certain topics and issues.
The day culminated with the presentation of certificates to all participants of the refresher course.
The MES team would like to thank Navini Island Resort for availing staff to be part of the refresher course and also look forward to the upcoming refresher courses with our remaining member resorts.
Filomena Serenia
