Welcome to the green olympics and protect the Yellow Sea surrounding us

 Global Village of Beijing, China

 In collaboration with Greenera and Qingdao Youth Association of Environmental Protection

With the upcoming Water Olympic Games in Qindao, Global Village in collaboration with other volunteer groups organized a series of activities to enhance awareness of the Yellow Sea and environmental protection.

The main activities were lectures about oceans, screening of environmental education films, aquarium visits, beach cleaning, juvenile fish release and awareness campaign with the production of educational materials.

1. Launch of a Local Environmental Council in Qindao:

Global Village of Beijing and Greenera jointly organized an activity for the locals in the Qingdao Tiantai Olympic Garden. The aim of the activity was to build an environment council and improve the environmental awareness of local residents. The network of Tiantai Olympic Garden community members working toward marine environmental protection was established on December 22, 2007. These members named their network the “Local Environmental Council.” As a volunteer group, the environment council is composed of community residents and staff of the property management company.

2. Training workshop for environmental monitoring:

The group organized workshops every month over a year to train the local residents to conduct simple monitoring activities and analyses. The trainees/residents observed and recorded ecological changes and the pollutants released along the coast. Results of the monitored water samples are below.

3. Environmental campaign:

Six education campaigns were prepared for local residents to disseminate to visitors and tourists about the marine environment and how to protect it. The local residents distributed printed materials and participated in a beach cleanup activity.

4. Forum for marine environmental protection:

Six forums were organized for the local residents to learn about the status and problems of the marine and coastal environment in the Yellow Sea. Regional experts from universities and research institutions attended the forums and gave interesting presentations.

Within the forum, the following activities were conducted:

(a) Poster exhibitions;

(b) Bulletin board;

(c) Website with an online discussion board (www.yellowsea.ngo.cn). Materials prepared can also be downloaded from this website.

(d) Shop-window with details on training information, upcoming activities, hot issues about the Yellow Sea, as well as the information about the character of the Yellow Sea’s environment and its biodiversity.

5. Outdoor publicity activities:

The members of the local Environmental Council exhibited the bulletin board, distributed printed materials to the residents, and organized actives to promote the program.

Six outdoor publicity activities in Tiantai Olympic Garden we organized:

4.1              The residents’ environmental council organized publicity and conducted education on marine issues in front of the entrance of the Tiantai Olympic Garden Community

4.2              The residents’ environmental council came to the recreational center to publicize the marine environmental protection. They handed out posters and information leaflets to the residents.

4.3              The staff of Qingdao Youth Association of Environment Protection and volunteers from Qingdao University worked together to carry out education and publicity on marine environmental protection to the local residents in the recreational center. To show their support and determination to the marine environmental protection, all the residents signed their name on the posters.

1.4.            A speech was given to the residents. Residents then hung a poster on the shop window and signed their name on it, in order to pledge to marine environmental protection.

1.5.            With the support of American volunteer Kate Szewczyk and the young volunteers from the community and Qingdao Youth Association of Environment Protection a visit to TainTai Community was prepared. They handed out bimonthly newsletters and other publicity materials and promoted knowledge of environmental protection to the residents.

1.6.            The volunteers, consisting of residents from Tiantai Community, went to Huangdao to conduct publicity activities and help do some cleaning there. Additionally, they performed a drama, named “Ocean Guard”, which they created themselves.

6. Other Publications:

The group published and distributed newsletters to the local residents six times. The newsletter, issued bimonthly, provided information about pollution in the Yellow Sea.

Table 1. Water sample analysis taken during the training workshop and analyzed by the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.