NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation’s (BREEF) Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) programme invites students ages 11 to 25 to give nature a voice and submit an article or a photo with a short paragraph about an environmental issue they are passionate about.
The winner will be announced at BREEF’s Virtual Youth Environmental Leadership Summit scheduled for March 30 31, 2021, to be held under the theme “Carbon, Corals and Conservation”.
The 2021 competition is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) and the submission deadline is March 26.
The winners of the Bahamian national competition will be entered into the global competition that will be judged later in the year.
BREEF Executive Director Casuarina McKinney-Lambert stated: “Young people around the world are coming up with inspiring solutions to environmental challenges and communicating about them in creative ways.
“This competition is an opportunity for Bahamian youth to be part of the solution to local and global environmental challenges.”
BREEF YRE Coordinator Allison Longley stated: “Climate change is a huge threat to the world and especially life on small island states. Corals are particularly vulnerable to warming waters and they are also our first line of defense from storms, and there are so many ways in which we can all get involved in conservation.”
For more details on how to register for the competition and the Virtual Youth Environmental Leadership Summit, contact breef@breef.org or 242-327-9000.
BREEF first launched the YRE programme in 2019 when The Bahamas became the first country in the Caribbean region to offer the programme. The initiative aims to empower students to take a stand on environmental issues they feel strongly about and give them a platform to call attention to these issues through the media of writing, photography and videography.
There are more than 350,000 young reporters in 45 countries across the world.
BREEF runs the YRE and Eco-Schools Bahamas through the Foundation for Environment Education.
YRE Alumna Kaitlyn Archer said: “What motivates me to protect nature is the sustainability of our surroundings for future generations. Nature is often neglected by human beings in today’s world and now its survival is becoming such a vital aspect of life; we have to protect it.”
