Virgin Islands National Park and the Friends of VI National Park are excited to announce this year’s Earth Day events. The week began with green giveaways at the Marketplace on St John on Monday, April 25.
The fun continued with the 2011 Earth Day Environmental Fair Friday April 29th. This year the fair was held at the National Park Ball Field in Cruz Bay, St. John from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For the first time this year, prior to the fair, the Waste Management Authority co-hosted Litter Stomp Parade from Julius E. Sprauve School to the fairgrounds starting at 8:45 a.m. See news coverage of the event
Friends also hosted the second annual Reef Fest on Saturday April 30th. This event coincided with the Earth Day celebration as St John youth and their families spent an educational fun day at Hawksnest Beach from Noon to 5:00 p.m. Exhibits, activities, and events happened in an out of the water throughout the day.
Reef Fest 2011 from DiveHDV on Vimeo.
Our goal is to educate, inform, and inspire VI youth and the community on the importance of preserving and protecting our environment. All events were free and open to the public, and all St John schools and families were invited. Last year over 700 St John students attended the Earth Day Fair and over 150 participants attended Reef Fest. These events are great ways to teach VI youth about the environment and important environmental issues. It is also an excellent opportunity to expose St John students, who generally don’t have the ability to attend fairs in St Thomas, to important environmental programs on other islands.
Island wide beach clean-ups occurred throughout Earth Week. Participants of the Friends’ Adopt-A-Beach/Trail program were asked to remove debris from their adopted beach/trail as part of an island-wide cleanup. The Adopt-A-Beach/Trail program encourages volunteer groups to adopt a site and become responsible for keeping it clean. If you are interested in adopting a beach/trail please contact Audrey Penn at (340)779-4940.