Earth Day Celebrated in FSM
Press Release #0409-34
Palikir, Pohnpei – FSM Information Services
April 22, 2009
Annually, April 22nd marks Earth Day, which has become an international day for cleaning up the environment.  This year is the 39th year that Earth Day has been celebrated.  In the FSM, both government and non-government organizations are sponsoring activities to help clean and preserve the islands.  The FSM Public Information Office put calls in to each state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to the FSM Office of Environment and Emergency Management (OEEM) to see what was taking place.

Each year, the national government acts as a facilitator for the states celebrating Earth Day, especially when it comes to finding funding for activities or supplies.  This year, no requests were made to the OEEM so they were not aware of specific activities the states were sponsoring.  OEEM does take an active role in sponsoring World Environment Day, which will be held on June 5th.

Upon calling the various EPA’s, we found that the Pohnpei State Governor has made a Proclamation on the State’s celebration of Earth Day.  Pohnpei State is sponsoring a “Be Waste Wise – Treat your waste properly” campaign that has been running since April 6th and ends on April 23rd.  They are focusing on picking up trash around the island and a schedule has been sent to all Pohnpei State departments for their designated cleaning locations.  The state’s cleanup efforts will end on April 24th with a closing ceremony and a speech contest among six students from each of the six high schools in Pohnpei.

Also, the Pohnpei Conservation Society (CSP) is having a cleanup day on Lenger Island on Saturday, April 25th, where staff members and volunteers will clean up the beaches and do a scuba dive to clean up in the water surrounding this popular picnic spot in Pohnpei.In Kosrae, the Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority (KIRMA) has staff visiting the schools to meet students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 for Question and Answer sessions and they will also perform other activities during the week and have prizes for event winners.  For grades 7, 8 and 9 an essay contest is being sponsored with a deadline for submissions to the KIRMA office no later than April 28, 2009.  Winners and Awards will be announced and presented on April 30th.Both the Yap State Environmental Office and the Chuuk State Public Affairs Department commented that they do not have know of any activities planned for Earth Day this year in their respective states.