Samoa Conservation Society Open Day – members and friends in Action!

Getting our hands dirty!

On to 20 trees planted

Forest Heroes lending a helping hand!

Onward march to plant a tree!

Greg demonstrating how to plant a tree.

Young man with a big biodiversity smile!

Cheers to SCS Open Day!

Greg plants his 10th tree!

Team Forest Heroes

“Look at my hands…all dirty”

Team in action

“We are marching for the land”

Planting in style!

The youngest Forest Hero brought her mum with her!

Getting ready to plant

Even James brought her mom!

Wide-brim hat was needed to keep the rain at bay!

Happy to be helping out.

Team Conservation Avengers!

All smiles and raring to go!

Moe welcoming participants

The trees for the forest!

President checking out the orchids in the nursery!

Healthy body is a healthy planet. Getting the little ones ready.

Learning about flower power and colours.

Happy sisters joining in the forest day!

Handsome Filia Jr with his flower power!

The way to the planting site.

Got my tree!

SCS in action!

Leading by example.

I’m on to my 25th tree!

This is how it’s done.

Fia with his Tava!

High on the hill … there were people planting.

Tree number 10 for me!

I’m so excited…I just can’t hide it!

Doing it for my son!

This is Posa’s one and only tree planted. May it grow bigger than all the others.

Doing it for the love of the land!

Happy hands in the soil

Not in my job description this morning.

You ain’t a farmer until you sweat hits the earth.

The hat came in handy too.

I H2O a few plants around here.

Doing it for the Blue Ocean!

Sina smiles as she planted more than Posa.

Team Forest Gnomes

Hold the plant this way!

A soil in time saves a tree!

All hands on board!

Samoa Conservation Society Open Day – a hit with the Forest Heroes!

Mt Vaea was alive with green activities as the Samoa Conservation Society held their open day on Saturday 13 June.

Over 50 society members, their families and friends gathered to celebrate the Society and contributed to efforts by the Government and partners to restore the Mt Vaea Reserve.

The Mt Vaea Reserve was established in 1978, one of the first in the country, is a popular tourist spot due to its close proximity to town, the tomb of Robert Louis Stevenson and its cultural placement in the oral history of Samoa.

“We are very pleased with the turnout today. This is our first major event and I’m very happy that many parents came and brought their children”, says Sala Josephine Stowers-Fiu, President of the Samoa Conservation Society.

“It is a good day for the forest and for our efforts to support the Government restore our national heritage. We need to continue conservation efforts in all our communities, such as planting of trees in order to regenerate the forests. The trees are the lungs of the earth, and everyone on this planet need this”, she adds.

The Samoa Conservation Society is a local environment NGO that is working to save the Manumea, Samoa’s national bird. The Manumea requires good forest to survive and this is one of the aim of the Society is to save Samoan species by saving forests and working with communities to protect them.

Members were able to plant over two-hundred native plants to replace the invasive trees that have taken over much of the Mt. Vaea Reserve. Five tree species have taken over the Mt Vaea.

“These invasive trees are fast growing, they replace our native species”, says James Atherton, SCS member and organiser of the event.

“To restore this Reserve requires all of our help, and the Society and its members are pleased to contribute in a small way towards a big task”, he adds.

“I’m really pleased that I brought my children to Mt Vaea and they got a chance to plant native species. My daughter planted nine trees”, says Leatigaga Mark Bonin.

The children were not left idle, as they were split into three teams to explore some of the species. Team Forest Heroes and Conservation Avengers did some challenging activities including identifying tree species and learning more about what is a native species and what is not.

The Samoa Conservation Society will be holding another activity next month and welcome all the members of the public to join them. A fun quiz night is being planned and there will be plenty of conservation information to help everyone become a Samoan environment hero.

40 kilos of rubbish on World Oceans Day!

Members of the Samoa Conservation Society collected 40 kilograms of rubbish along the Taumeasina foreshore yesterday afternoon. This was part of the World Oceans Day celebrations, where the global community undertake various activities to commemorate the importance of oceans in our lives and our planet. The theme of Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet remains a challenge if the amount of rubbish that was collected is an indication of how things are like.

The Samoa Conservation Society teamed up with SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme) and the Pualele Outrigger Canoe Club to action this initiative. This is part of a regional campaign where SPREP is trying to measure and determine the origin of most of the rubbish or marine litter in the Pacific.

From observations yesterday, most of the rubbish were bottle tops from soft-drinks and beer and cigarette butts. Broken bottles and glass were also very common, as were bits of styrofoam cups and plates that are used for take away food and coffee.

The activity shows that there is a need for a campaign to stop people from discarding their rubbish, however small, on our environment, especially near coastal areas where king-tides are known to occur. These rubbish will end up in the sea and will affect marine life and eventually will affect us. We all want a healthy planet, a healthy Pacific Ocean and healthy communities. For this to occur – it needs to start with us.

Have a great World Oceans Day and we would like to thank all our members that joined us for this event. Look forward to your support and attendance at the Mt Vaea National Park Families & Friends Day this Saturday 13th June, 2015.

World Oceans Day 2015 clean-up at Taumeasina

James Atherton showing some of the rubbish collected

Stuart Young happy collecting rubbish at World Oceans Day!

Trashing it away!

Weighing the rubbish haul from World Oceans Day!

Some of the SCS members volunteering for the World Oceans Day!

Some of the rubbish collected for the World Oceans Day activity

Mel Bradley showing the bottle caps collected. Bottle caps were the most common litter along the beach-front

One of our volunteers recording the various rubbish collected for World Oceans Day

Celebrating World Oceans Day – members welcome!

On June 8th – everyone will be Celebrating the World Oceans Day! The theme of the Day is Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet. We would like to be part of this celebrations and we invite you and your families to join us.

Our Ocean: The Pacific Ocean is our life. It is the source of our inspirations and our cultures. It is the sacred burial ground of the footprints of our fore-parents during their journey of discovery of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.

 Today, the sacred burial ground of our fore-parents is being challenged by the threats created by us and by those beyond our Pacific Ocean. 

This Monday – June 8th, we invite you to Taumeasina for an hour of your time to help clean up the Bay area. We will work in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Pualele Outrigger Canoe Club to celebrate the World Oceans Day. We start at 1.00-2.00 pm – all the equipment will be provided – just your presence and enthusiasm needed. If you need information about how to get there or more about World Oceans Day – please do not hesitate to contact Posa Skelton (tel. 7651028).

 Thank you and counting on your support for this great event. 

#WOD2015