Celebrate "Our Natural Treasures" all month long in April!

April is BECQ’s annual Environmental Awareness Month! EAM is all about protecting and caring for our islands, and this year’s theme is “Our Natural Treasures.” To celebrate BECQ is hosting a number of activities throughout the month of April. Bring the whole family to and help us make EAM 2015 a success!

Contests

Recycled Boat Race

Build your own boat out of recycled materials, and race to the finish! Your boat has to be man powered and cannot sink, or lose parts. There will be 2 races, for 18 and under, and one for 18+, with cash prizes. This event will take place on Saturday, April 26^th at 10.30 am at Kilili Beach, across from Ada gym. Contact Cal Westergard at calwestergard@deq.gov.mp for details.

 “Trash-to-Treasure” Tote bag design display

(Friday) April 24, 2015 from 6-9p.m.

Susupe, Flame Tree Arts Festival fair grounds

Remade tote bags created by our young designers to be featured at Flame Tree Arts Festival event by turning the garbage back into art. Help save our earth and inspire the habit of using reusable shopping bags! For more information, contact us-the “Trash-to-Treasure” Committee: Olivia Tenorio or Leilani Sablan, at BECQ 664-8500

Events

Proclamation Signing

Join BECQ’s Environmental Awareness Month Proclamation Signing on April 1, 2015 at 10:00am at the Governor’s office. 

Island Wide Clean Up

This year’s 2015 Island Wide Cleanup event will take place on April 17, 2015 from 2:30pm – 4:30pm. For more information about this event, please contact Robert Deleon Guerrero and Aileen Benavente at 664-8500 and sign up today!

Environmental Expo for all 4^th and 5^th grades

The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality is inviting all interested public and private agencies to join us this April for the 2015 Environmental Expo. The Expo provides the opportunity for environmental and natural resource groups to conduct widespread outreach efforts to 4th and 5th graders from all public and private schools on Saipan over a three-day period. In past years over 1500 students and 30 organizations have participated.

 Where: American Memorial Park

When: 8:00am to 2:00pm, April 14-16 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)

Please contact Avra Heller or Jihan Buniag at 664-8500 to sign-up!

            

Native Plant Giveaway

The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality in partnership with CNMI Forestry will be giving out free native trees to the community on April 25, 2015 from 9:00am-12:00pm at the Flame Tree Arts Festival. 

First Friday Films

First Friday Films is showing a free documentary Islands of Sanctuary (celebrating island culture and environment) on April 3rd at 6:30pm at American Memorial Park visitor's center. Island of Sanctuary is about Native Hawaiians and Aboriginal Australians resisting threats to their sacred places in a growing international movement to defend human rights and protect the environment. For more information, visit firstfridayfilmssaipan.blogspot.com. 

To celebrate Earth Day on April 22^nd, First Friday Films is inviting the public to view three local short films that explore the CNMI’s environment and natural resources at American Memorial Park visitor’s center on Wednesday, April 22^nd, at 6:30pm.

Turtle Tagging

Join staff from DFW’s Turtle Team at Fishing Base at 11 am on April 7, to learn more about these amazing creatures, and how the folks at DFW work to protect them. For more information contact Tammy Summers at tammymaesummers@yahoo.com.

Micronesia Islands Nature Alliance EAM Activities

Every Tuesday of April:  Tuesdays are getting greener.  Joeten is partnering with MINA to encourage their customers to say no to plastic bags.  As part of Plastic Bag Challenge campaign, MINA Volunteers will be setting up learning stations at Joeten stores giving out FREE reusable eco bags for those who pledge to "Choose to reuse their bags" and refusing plastic bags at the checkout counter. 

April 11: MINA is leading a Marine Debris Contest challenging fishermen at the Mahi Mahi Fishing Derby to collect any man-made debris they encounter while they're out fishing.  All qualifying entries will be entered to win exciting prizes.

Throughout the month:  MINA Volunteers will be encouraging the community to bring their old T-shirts to the MINA office located in the Gualo Rai Center near BECQ.  Volunteers will be turning these shirts into reusable bags!

Throughout the month: MINA will be coordinating beach cleanups with Adopt-a-Bin sponsors at their adopted site.

For more information contact Becky Furey at 233-7333.

AND SO MUCH MORE! Contact EAM Chair, Tom Pangelinan at tompangelinan@deq.gov.mp or check www.deq.gov.mp for a full calendar of events.

Ring in Environmental Awareness Month with a movie this Friday!

In celebration of April being Environmental Awareness Month, First Friday Films presents the film Islands of Sanctuary for FREE to all audiences at 6:30pm on Friday, April 3^rd at American Memorial Park.

“Islands of Sanctuary” is one film in the Standing on Sacred Ground series which follows Aboriginal Australians and Native Hawaiians as they reclaim land from the government and the military and resist the erosion of their culture and the environment.

Before the film, local Chamorro cultural historian Genevieve Cabrera will speak about the indigenous cultural groups of the Marianas Archipelago, Micronesia and greater Oceania. Ms. Cabrera has spent over a decade researching rock art of the Northern Mariana Islands and working to protect the islands from proposed military activities.

The theme for Environmental Awareness Month 2015 is “Our Natural Treasures,” and First Friday Films is just one of many events put on by the CNMI natural resource and environmental agencies, partner organizations and the community to celebrate the natural treasures that our islands have to offer. First Friday Films is also hosting a festival of local short films on Earth Day, April 22^nd at 6:30pm at American Memorial Park. The public is welcome to join for all or part of this event which will feature 15-30 minute professional documentaries about the environment in the CNMI.

First Friday Films is a partnership between American Memorial Park, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality and the Humanities Council with support from other organizations and individuals. This particular film is sponsored by BECQ. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. This event will run approximately 80 minutes.

FUTURE FOOD on March 6th

First Friday Films is featuring two new films from the FUTURE FOOD series this Friday! The public is invited for a free viewing of the films at 6:30pm on Friday, March 6^th at American Memorial Park to learn about new things happening all over the world to feed our growing population.

Did you know that tonight there will be 219,000 new mouths to feed at the world’s dinner table? That is 80 million more people over the next year, and 9 billion people total on planet Earth by the year 2050! FUTURE FOOD is a a documentary series created in 2012 that asks how we are going to feed ourselves in the 21^st century, and looks for answers in Peru, Kenya, the USA, India, Nigeria and China.

This Friday, we will show two episodes FOR FREE as part of our monthly documentary series. Episode 1: Old or New looks at a new generation of top chefs in Lima, Peru who are cooking with traditional ingredients and supporting traditional livelihoods. Episode 6: Stay or Go tries to answer the question, “Who will grow China’s food as young people leave the countryside for the cities?” More episodes from this series will be shown at future FFF events.

First Friday Films is a partnership between American Memorial Park, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality and the Humanities Council with support from other organizations and individuals. This particular film is sponsored by BECQ. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. This event will run approximately 70 minutes.