ENVIRONMENT: Green activists  continue message during pandemic

The challenge for environmental activists seemed enormous when the coronavirus pandemic hit Panama raising questions about how to continue to effectively share the message of respect for the planet without being able to convene massive days of cleaning, reforestation or recycling?

For the MiMar movement, which promotes the care of coastal and marine ecosystems, the strategy has been to intensify green consciousness through digital channels as will happen this week during a series of conferences “Environmental Activism 101” in Zoom reports La Prensa.

Transmissions highlight the basic principles of recycling and sustainability to reduce waste during the months of confinement and images of beaches littered with garbage in the absence of massive cleaning days, large amounts of plastic gloves and masks that were not correctly discarded and birds that, in the midst of a rubbish dump, wonder if they are not also working on a vaccine for people’s unconsciousness,  and other messages, adjusted to the current situation of the pandemic, are being shared by Mimar.

“We are reinventing ourselves as we go, trying to ensure that network initiative are not just about ‘posted’ content, but go much further, as will happen at the ‘Environmental Activism 101’ conferences on issues of environmental conservation and environmental problems, the environmental history of Panama, the environmental treaties to know which have been ratified by Panama or the effects on indigenous communities as a result of climate change, “explains Serena Vamvas, director of Mimar, who, prior to the pandemic, led constant conferences on garbage collection on the coasts of the city, with the participation of hundreds of volunteers.

It has been very difficult to see the progress of pollution of marine ecosystems, without being able to do any fieldwork, Vamvas acknowledges. At each cleanup called by MiMar, hundreds of bags were filled with trash. For example, six tons were collected in two hours in Juan Díaz or 16 tons in Panama Viejo, in less than four hours, details Vamvas. “The amount of garbage that reaches our beaches is impressive,” she highlights.