Nature Foundation representatives visited fourth form students of Milton Peters College on Friday to provide information about the Coral Restoration Project and to teach students about the impact of solid waste pollution on the environment, marine and wild life. The project aims to restore Elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and Staghorn (A. cervicornis) by growing coral fragments in coral nurseries. After a period of time coral will be transplanted at selected restoration sites. “The students learned about the importance of our coral reefs, threats to corals and how we restore corals in St. Maarten.
They were fascinated about this interesting subject as none of them knew much about corals and our reefs” said Nature Foundation Projects Officer Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern. They also learned about the negative impacts of trash and garbage on nature and the environment. After, about 60 students removed 30 bags of garbage from Mullet Bay Beach. Most of them were surprised of the high amounts of straws, cigarette buds and plastic bottles which were found during the clean-up. The Foundation and teachers were impressed at the motivation of the students and hope that future generations continue to not litter and to protect St. Maarten’s environment.
