Media-Scientist Parnertship Needed to Address Climate Change

    Manado, North Sulawesi, May 13, 2009 (ANTARA) - A  strong partnership between science and the media is needed to overcome  environmental problems, including climate change, Robert Lee, a  UNESCO Program Specialist for Environment Sciences said.

         Journalists  and scientists should work closely together as the media had great  skill in telling interesting stories that could catch people's attention, while scientists were good in collecting scientific facts and data important to protect the environment, Lee said at the OANA Workshop on "The Role of the media in preserving the global environment", here on Wednesday . 
     Planet Earth was experiencing disasters such as floods, droughts, sea level rise, air pollution, wild fires, desertification, and ecosystem destruction, he said.

          Scientists have sent alarms for decades about the climate change and global warming as well as other environmental problems, but it seemed it did get adequate attention from the public, Lee of the Jakarta-based UNESCO regional office, said.

          He believed that the media play an active role in collecting, producing and distributing news on the environment, which could possible change the attitude of the society, like in saving energy and water in their daily life.

          Lee also emphasized that the media should not only report on environment and scientific information, but also should participate  actively in dialogs which lead to policy and decision makings.

          "The media should form strong communication with scientists," he told the workshop's participants among others coming from Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Venezuela, Malaysia, Indonesia, Qatar, Brazil, Suriname, Cuba, and Canada.

          He said UNESCO Jakarta Office would have a media and climate change program to promote journalists' excellence in reporting climate change.

          The OANA workshop is being organized by OANA (Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies), here May 13-15, coinciding with the implementation of the World Ocean Conference (WOC) which is also being organized here, May 11-14.

          The Workshop is organized by the OANA Secretariat in ANTARA News Agency, with the cooperation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Communication and Informatics Ministry of Indonesia.

          In the last day of the workshop, the journalists will join a field visit to Bunaken marine park, around 10 km of Manado, to see the rich marine biodiversity of the protected marine park.

          OANA, which was established in 1961 with the support of UNESCO, now has 40 member news agencies from 33 countries.

    ***3***
(T. F001/A/HAJM/A/E002)