What is beach accretion? It’s the opposite of beach erosion, it’s where sand builds up to much due to the change of tidal rythms… One of the things I learned the other day when in Speightstown for the Sandwatch exhibition, no – not sandwich! Sandwatch – a United Nations programme where schoolchildren assist in monitoring not only the cleanliness of various beaches but climate changes be they good or bad, it is coordinated mainly by Randy Woodroffe – educator, environmentalist, community leader and hard worker.

These are some of the goals sought in this UN youth initiative –

• To exhibit, present and judge the results from the beach monitoring activities undertaken during Phase 1 of the Sandwatch project.
• To prepare plans for Phase 2 of the Sandwatch project, ?Implementation of beach enhancement projects?.
• To evaluate the Sandwatch project to date, and develop a long-term strategy for developing Sandwatch activities country-wide.
• To provide opportunities and activities for students and teachers to interact with each other and learn about Dominica: its people, culture, environment and especially its beaches.
• To introduce the Small Islands Voice initiative to the youth of the Wider Caribbean.

At the exhibition there were quite a few participants – Coleridge & Parry Secondary School; the Solid Waste Project Unit; the Environmental Protection Department as well as the Sanitation Service Authority.

Prizes were donated by First Caribbean Int’l Bank, Plastic Plumbing Services, Illuminat as well as Pages Bookstores of Cave Shepherd – they were presented by Ms Harriet Daisley, the Secretary General of the National Commission of UNESCO.

This project stretches as far north in the Caribbean as Cuba and runs all the way down the island chain to the twin island republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Apart from allowing cultural exchanges, there are plans to boost awareness for the drive in certain measures –

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  Adopt-a-beach programmes

Clean-up campaigns and clearing drains

Teacher workshops

Preparation of videos

Encouraging correct disposal of garbage at beaches (bins, closing beaches at night)

Lobbying governments against new beachfront development and loss of beach access

Tree planting and other measures to reduce erosion

Websites

Media campaigns

Marches and rallies

Encouraging enforcement of legislation

Involvement of communities and private business

What about the winners? Without any more ado, here are the main winners for the 2007 Sandwatch Exhibition –

Age 6 to 8 Category: Jade Medford of Roland Edwards Primary

Age 9 to 10 Category: Kelan Vanterpool-Worrell from St Albans Primary

Age 11 to 14 Category: Novium Thompson of Coleridge & Parry Secondary