In accordance with the guidelines of the United Nations resolution which declared the year 1998 The International Year of the Ocean.
Newfound Harbor Marine Institute organized its International Weekend around the UN theme, Ocean, a Common Heritage, focusing on five ocean issues of global significance and concern for wilderness and all cultures of humanity:
1) marine environmental quality of coastal areas, including nutrient input;
2) marine pollution, including ocean dumping, accidental spills, and non-point/upstream sources;
3) marine fisheries resources and management, including mariculture and marine reserves;
4) the causes and potential effects of global warming on coastal areas, and
5) recreation, tourism and coastal development.
NHMI's goal was to educate participants on these five topics through first-hand observation and study in the field. Upon arrival, the students were divided into five groups, each focusing on a single topic. The participants learned about the biology and ecology of local marine eco-systems, including the mangrove, seagrass, and coral reef habitats. Activities included wading and snorkeling to gain practical experience in these different habitats. During these field trips, each group discussed the biological as well as the social context of their topic, making a bridge from the local perspective to the global perspective.
Newfound
Harbor Marine Institute
January
29 - February 1, 1998
VI
annual International Week
Newfound Harbor Marine Institute hosted its 6th Annual International Weekend on the Marine Environment January 29 - February 1, 1998. This three-day event was a cooperative effort between NHMI and the South Florida Rotary International Youth Exchange Committee. Students from seven countries took part in this weeken, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Finland, Germany, and Sweden. Students from Garden City High School in Michigan, and from Coral Shores and Key West High Schools in the Florida Keys offered the U.S. perspective on the global environment.
The highlight of the International Weekend was a round-table discussion which followed presentations of each student group. At the round table, the students shared what they learned about their individual topics, with the whole group discussing conflicts and potential solutions. The floor was opened for questions and discussion from other participants and invited guests on each topic. All participants were encouraged to offer their own experiences, knowledge, and perspective on these issues to connect their local weekend findings with similar concerns that face their own and other countries. A primary objective was to secure different perspectives on each issue, and to develop objective consideration of various viewpoints.
NHMI had contacted some of its former interns in Russia and Ukraine, who were very entusiastic about joining us in the Year of the Ocean effort and organizing conferences in their countries on similar topics. At the end of the round-table discussion, NHMI's international weekend students adopted a declaration, appealing to the world to take care of the ocean and its resources.
Please read this Declaration. If you share our concerns about the ocean and the thesis of these students statement, you are invited to sign the Declaration. Also, as 1998: Year of the Ocean progresses, please e-mail us a report of the personal steps you have taken to transform this Students Declaration into action on behalf of the Ocean!
Back to NHMI - Read the Declaration - Sign the Declaration