To observe the World Oceans Day 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and WorldFish Bangladesh jointly organized the webinar under the UN theme “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean.” 

Date: Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Context of the event:

Biodiversity conversations expert, activist, scientists and even teachers took part in the event to raise awareness among the citizens of Bangladesh to conserve the ocean, laying emphasis on transformative changes and innovative actions for the conservation of oceans and marine resources. Speakers at the discussion highlighted the challenges and opportunities of the actions taken by both state and non-state actors in Bangladesh to conserve oceans and marine resources through education, communication and grassroots action. 

Some of the topics of discussions include the Bay of Bengal that plays a vital role in the economy and the survival of Bangladesh, engaging youth through seminars and scholarships to incentivize them to join research and conservation of oceans and diversity and inter-disciplinary of the oceanography curriculum for students. 

There was also an emphasis on a need to assess the current condition of our marine ecosystems, combining data from different institutions and creating a detailed database and an inter-agency collaboration for the proper management and conservation of the ocean. It was also highlighted that the media has an important part in proper dissemination of knowledge among all stakeholders about the importance of ocean, biodiversity and marine resources.

For a full report on the event, visit the United News of Bangladesh website.