THE ocean covers more than 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface, it plays a crucial role in generating most of the oxygen we breathe.
The ocean also feeds us and it regulates our climate, something that people don’t often put into perspective today.
The ocean and environment play crucial roles in human survival and without it, human does not have the capabilities to endure life on this planet.
To mark World Environment and Oceans Week, staff members of the Air Terminal Services (Fiji) Ltd in collaboration with the Kai ni Cola organisation at Namatakula Village did a clean-up campaign and a mangrove planting exercise at the village shoreline.
Air Terminal Services (Fiji) Ltd staff Rusiate Tukana said for their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) the staff members of ATS wanted to focus their attention on making a positive impact on the environment.
“Our initial plan was to plant sandalwood trees at certain schools in Nadi, but then we heard about Namatakula Village and their fight against climate change so we thought to focus our CSR activity on the village,” he said.
“So we made the decision to come to Namatakula and plant mangroves and clean-up the village beach with the help of the Kai ni Cola (the village organisation that looks into addressing the impact of climate change on the village) for environment and ocean week.
“We had to revive this again as part of our CSR and it’s a good change because most of our workers work around the clock and it helps us give back to the environment.
“It is quite encouraging for the team because the staff are happy to be here. We have about 30 members and this is just the beginning for us as we hope to do similar activities in the future and give back to our communities.”
He said the staff would go back to work and share their experience with other staff members so they would get enlightened about community work and the impact it has on local communities.
“We have seen with our own eyes what climate change has done in just a short period of time to the Namatakula shoreline,” he said.
“Next year we hope to make it bigger and better and get all our staff to be part of such a great cause.
“We have nine departments in ATS and we have only two departments here with us, so we hope to get all nine departments on board with this initiative.”
