The 9th River Management Office of the Water Resources Agency, which has long been protecting the Hualien River and seawalls, held the second "Knowing the Sea" event of the Tribute to the Sea series on the 27th. Together with students from Hualien schools at all levels and professional lecturers, it has deepened marine education. We also went to the Huaren seawall to clean the beach, collect waste and recycle, returning a beautiful environment to the ocean. The students were also given the opportunity to use their creativity to think of ways to turn the trash they picked up into re-usable items. It was a fun and educational experience.
More than 40 teachers and students from Meilun Junior High School, Yichang Elementary School, Hualien Commercial Vocational High School, Hualien Senior Vocational Industrial High School, Siwei High School, National Dong Hwa University and Chungzheng Elementary School attended this event. Through education and practical work, the concept of waste reduction and recycling will be instilled in people from childhood, so that environmental education will take root.
The theme of this lecture is "Give the Sea a Breathing Space." In the morning, Guanrong Chen, lecturer of the Kuroshio Ocean Cultural and Educational Foundation and Yun-Chih Chiang, associate professor and director of the General Education Center at Tzu Chi University were invited to give a lecture on the ocean, marine ecology and culture. In the afternoon, students, and colleagues from the 9th River Management Office, flood control and water protection volunteers and the Ji'an Township Environmental Protection and Development Association went to the Beiren seawall. Everyone picked up the trash at the beach while perspiring in the heat. Using the ICC International Beach Cleanup Initiative model, they have implemented the classification of marine debris. Not only did they return the ocean to a clean environment, but through the exchange of ideas and creativity of the students and volunteers, they were able to reduce the amount of garbage at the source and protect the beautiful Huiwan Bay.
Kuo-Liang Wang, the commissioner of the 9th River Management Office said that the most important core of today's event was to educate the young generation to cultivate the concept of environmental protection from a young age and to extend the knowledge learned to families and schools, so that the concept of environmental education can be carried forward. Commissioner Wang especially thanked the teachers who came and led the students to learn about marine ecology and conduct an environmental introduction. In the afternoon, a beach cleanup was held at the Huaren seawall, hoping to teach and entertain the students, so that they can associate this activity with their future visits to the beach and make environmental maintenance a daily routine. Seeing the young generation's enthusiasm for today's activities is like seeing a bright vision of the future come to mind. It is hoped that all the students and VIPs will have a wonderful experience and remember what they have learned today and implement it in their lives.
The 9th River Management Office will hold the third "Close to the Ocean" event of the Tribute to the Sea series on September 16. We sincerely invite local Hualien organizations and volunteers to participate. The half-day walking tour will be used to learn about the facilities around the Nanbin and Huaren seawall and to achieve the social education function. Through "Tribute to the Sea," the 9th River Management Office hopes to extend the event from the participating local enterprises, schools and organizations to the outside, so that everyone can have the right concept. The event lasts only for a short while, but the ocean is to accompany everyone for a lifetime. You and I need to make a contribution together. It is easy to protect the ocean by not littering and reducing the amount of trash we produce.