NURTURE

On 10/10/10 (Sunday, 10 October 2010), Bluepeace, the first environmental organization formed in the Maldives, is joining the Global Work Party (http://www.350.org/en/workparty) by launching its project NURTURE. The objective of this project is to increase the awareness of young children – and through them their families – on the impacts of climate change, teach them adaptation and mitigation methods and preparing the future generations of Maldivians for an uncertain future.

To launch this event, a group of pre-school children from Hulhumale Pre-School in the Maldives will be given small plants. The children will then get to work, by planting the shoots in pots. Each child will get one pot of plant to take home, to nurture and take care of for a few months, before finally planting it at a designated location.

The event will start at 4.30 pm at Hulhumale Pre-School. The assembly of children and parents will then move to the eastern beach of Hulhumale, where they will start work, with the Indian Ocean as the backdrop. Hulhumale is an entirely artificial island created by filling a lagoon, and it is higher than the average height of islands in the Maldives, offering more protection from natural disasters such as tidal waves. Raised islands such as Hulhumale may be common in the future, as the low-lying island nation of the Maldives starts the real battle against climate change and rising seas.