“Saving the Seas”

The Australian Marine Environment Protection Association (AUSMEPA) was launched in July 2000 with a declaration of voluntary commitment ‘to save the seas’ signed by a number of individuals representing a wide range of shipping industry, government and non government organisations who are committed to protecting Australia’s precious marine environment.

AUSMEPA’s goals include:

• instilling an increased marine environmental consciousness and awareness in Australians and seafarers visiting Australian ports, by means of education, information and publicity;

• establishing a visible presence in the Australian school system so that future generations of Australians are aware of the need to protect the marine environment;

• acting as a positive, independent voice about marine environmental concerns;

• assisting those that have been shown through irrefutable evidence to have caused pollution or other degradation of the marine environment, to adopt environmentally responsible procedures and operations.

These ambitious goals are achieved through a number of programs described later in this article.

AUSMEPA is one of several ‘MEPAs’ around the world, with others in Cyprus (CYMEPA), Greece (HELMEPA), North America (NAMEPA), Philippines (PHILMEPA), Turkey (TURMEPA), Ukraine (UKRMEPA) and Uruguay (URUMEPA). Other countries are in the process of setting up MEPAS – these include Malaysia and Thailand. All MEPAS share the same common goal of protecting the marine environment with a particular focus aimed at the continued improvement of the shipping and port industry’s environmental performance. Each MEPA undertakes a range of education and awareness programs for seafarers and the younger generation in their countries. The International Association of Marine Environment Protection Associations (INTERMEPA), headquartered in Athens, unifies the work of the various MEPAS and encourages other countries to form a MEPA so as to increase the global understanding of the importance of the marine environment and its protection.

AUSMEPA

Since its inception AUSMEPA has strived to meet its main goals of marine environmental education and awareness through two avenues:

• School education programs

• Seafarer education.

With a potential audience of teachers and students in Australia’s 10,000 schools, as well as seafarers in thousands of ships operating in and out of Australia’s ports, the most effective means of delivery of AUSMEPA’s education programs is the use of modern technology including interactive programs on the internet, high visual impact posters, CDs and DVDs. Education programs for teachers and students. The philosophy behind AUSMEPA’s school education program is to provide interesting yet challenging activities for students to undertake and to learn from. AUSMEPA provides free education resources on the AUSMEPA website www.ausmepa.org.au To date there are five education programs available on the AUSMEPA website:

• Marine Pests and Threats, which deals with ballast water, hull fouling and marine debris

• The Effects of Climate Change on Coral Bleaching

Stormwater Pollution, which emphasises that the majority of pollution in the sea does not come from ships but from the land

• Ships and the Marine Environment which introduces students to the world of shipping and the actions taken by the shipping industry to protect the marine environment

• Ports and the Marine Environment which provides a wealth of information on the role of ports, the importance of ports to the economy and how ports ensure their operations do not harm the marine environment these programs are available world wide to all English speaking schools. HELMEPA Junior has translated some of the education programs into Greek and made them available on their website so that the children of Greece can also benefit.

Life on board ship

On the AUSMEPA website a link is provided to the UK Marine Society and Sea Cadets website titled ‘Webships’ which traces the progress and on board happenings of one of BP Shipping’s newest vessels, the LNG carrier British Trader. Updates are provided by regular email despatches with photographs taken on board. Members of the crew are introduced and explain what life is really like on board ship.

Seafarer Education

AUSMEPA and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) have jointly produced a DVD: ‘Welcome to Australia protecting the marine environment’. The DVD describes the importance of Australia’s unique marine environment, in particular the Great Barrier Reef. The DVD also reminds ship masters and their crews of the international regulations under MARPOL with which they must comply. The DVD can be viewed in five languages; Chinese, English, Filipino, Greek and Spanish. The DVD has received international recognition by a wide range of shipping interests including P & I Clubs. A copy of the DVD is placed on every ship when it first arrives in an Australian port; it is currently being updated. AUSMEPA is examining a proposal to run half-day seafarer training workshops in selected ports on a monthly basis, to be available to ship crews and port workers.

Ship membership scheme

The AUSMEPA ship membership scheme recognises quality ships trading to Australia with a high safety and environmental record. Owners and operators of quality ships often take steps beyond the requirements of the international conventions to ensure maximum environmentalprotection, the scheme provides an opportunity for this practice to be recognised. AUSMEPA ship members must demonstrate they meet AUSMEPA’s strict safety and environmental criteria and once approved, the ship is presented with an AUSMEPA certificate and flag.

Funding

AUSMEPA is a not-for-profit association, which is very grateful to the funding it receives from shipping and port industry organisations in the way of individual membership fees, donations, sponsorship and ship membership fees. For more information about AUSMEPA please go to the website www.ausmepa.org.au and for INTERMEPA www.intermepa.org