Around 200 attend ESO earth hour event

Muscat: Around 200 people attended Environment Society of Oman’s (ESO’s) “earth hour” event at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher on Sunday.
The highlight of the event was switching off the lights from 8.30 to 9.30pm. The Royal Opera House and the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque also had their lights switched off in support of Earth Hour.
ESO’s event also included other entertainment and educational programmes. It started at 6.30pm with the “scavenger hunt”, held in collaboration with Xcape Muscat, which educated participants about the environment. Participants were asked to find a missing humpback whale, while receiving important information about the species.
The event concluded with an outdoor screening of the environmental documentary “Mission Blue”, which highlights the story of world-renowned oceanographer and ocean ambassador Sylvia Earle as she travelled around the globe on a mission to protect the oceans.
It also included live music performances, colouring activities for children and food stalls.
Besides raising awareness about power wastage, participants were educated on marine ecosystem conservation and the importance of unique species, such as the endangered Arabian Sea Humpback whale.
Taking part in a range of environmentally themed activities and entertainment, attendees were encouraged to share pictures of the festivities using the hashtags #OmanConnect2Earth and #Connect2Earth.
Suaad Al Harthi, Programs Director at ESO, said: “The global theme this year is Connect 2 Earth, which focuses on raising awareness about global biodiversity and its importance to ecosystems.”
“We used the humpback whale as a flagship species to highlight the importance of marine ecosystems in Oman but ultimately this species represents all of the important features of oceans, habitats and marine species, which we depend on either for food, water, commercial or recreational activities. Healthy oceans are essential not just to marine species but humans as well,” Al Harthi said.
She added: “All of our day-to-day activities have some sort of an impact on the planet, we need to realise this and decide to make a conscious effort to do something positive for our planet and start making those changes right away. It is our joint responsibility and we all have a role to play in saving our planet”.