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Introduction and background
National Marine Week is celebrated annually during the second week of October. This is an Environmental Awareness Campaign driven by the Department of Environmental Affairs, through its Branch: Oceans and Coasts. Its purpose is to create awareness of the oceans and coastal environment, the promotion of sustainable utilization and conservation thereof, for the benefit of all. It endeavours to bring the science alive to allow politicians, the public and the young to understand the value of the role of the oceans.
2014 Theme
#OCEANS 70/20: Decoding Mysteries, Optimising Opportunities!
Explanation
- # (hashtag)
It is a symbol that is used before a keyword or phrase in social media platforms to categorize / classify. This allows for searching or identifying other messages in the same category. - Oceans
This is a word that represents the entire marine environment, from the coast to far offshore, including and beyond our ocean borders or EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). However, in this context, the word OCEANS is derived from the first letters of the phrase:
Opportunities for Community and Economy: Advantages from Natural Services - 70/20
These two numbers have been combined together as a “curiosity factor”, to create questions and dialogue, relevant to the marine environment and South Africa- More than 70% of earth’s surface is covered by ocean
- South Africa is currently celebrating 20 years of freedom, as a democratic country. It marks what government has achieved in the last 20 years but also what is planned over the next 20.
- Decoding Mysteries
The oceans are a mysterious place, unexplored and full of wonder. There are many discoveries waiting to be made – benefits and influences, scientific discoveries and innovations. These mysteries need to be deciphered and uncovered, in order to show ordinary citizens how oceans play a role in their daily lives. - Optimising Opportunities
The oceans have the potential of being a major driver towards the betterment of South Africans. It is a vast natural resource and as a developing country we need to utilise these resources sustainably to ensure it builds a better South Africa, therefore the word optimizing instead of maximising. It also points to the fact that optimising the use of the oceans for economic development happens in a balanced and environmentally sustainable way.