SCORES of Guyanese joined hands Saturday night to strengthen the call for environmental protection as ‘Earth Hour’ 2019 was observed.

Earth Hour is a worldwide event organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This event culminates the month long array of activities held throughout March, which sought to raise awareness on the importance of protecting the environment and the impacts of climate change.

On ‘Earth Hour’, usually held on the last Saturday of March, non-essential lights are turned off for one hour (usually 20:00hours) as part of efforts to stand for environmental conversation and climate change awareness. In Guyana, this was observed at the National Park where the lights were switched off and scores of persons lit candles as part of the efforts to raise awareness.

“Each year, what Earth Hour intends to do is raise awareness and urge persons to protect planet earth against climate change,” WWF country manager, Ayesha Williams told the Guyana Chronicle.

According to her, the overarching message of the global event is to champion the protection of biodiversity and the environment. In so doing, it is hoped that government and other bodies would augment efforts to ensure environmental protection. “And biodiversity must be protected because it’s not only for having our natural surroundings, it’s for human well-being and for the health of the planet,” she stressed.

In Guyana, not only is the event focused on raising awareness on mitigating environment issues, but it also functions to promote youth leadership and engagement in environmental action. “Young people have played a major role in leading this every year– WWF is just there to support these young people,” Williams shared.

At the event held at the National Park, various young people- organised in their groups- were seen championing their environmental protection agendas. “We’ve made a definitive decision to have the youths lead this; that’s how we see things moving forward in the future- once youth are focused on changing the world, then our future is bright. And in protecting our environment, our future is bright,” the WWF country manager explained.

Adding to her statements was President of the Guyana Youth Environment Network (GYEN), Amar Dillawar. Since the Earth Hour activities began in Guyana a few years ago, the GYEN has taken the leading role in coordinating these.

“Every year we host the event and we try to bring in Guyanese talent to try to raise awareness around all the issues of biodiversity, climate change, etc.,” Dillawar shared.
He explained that the group tries to get young people to address other youth people, as a way of connecting to each other. And the GYEN of itself is a youth empowerment group that bands together environmentally- conscious young people, he related.