MAR Jam Preparatory School was among the awardees for this year’s Jamaica Environmental Action Awards, held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on June 22.

The school copped the Total Trees for the Future Award. Other winners were:

* Westwood High School, The Energy Conservation Award, sponsored by Jamaica Energy Partners;

* Pisgah All-Age, The Water Conservation Award, sponsored by Nestle Jamaica;

* Elizabeth Beck-Solms and Temple Foods Limited, The Sustainable Agriculture Award, sponsored by Jamaica Producers;

* The Jamaica Iguana Recovery Programme, The Wildlife Conservation Award, sponsored by the NCB Foundation; and

* Nakhlé Hado, the Marine Conservation Award, sponsored by Industrial Gases Limited.

Ecowells Limited won The Waste Management Award, sponsored by Wata while Ava-Gail Lindsay of St Mary High won The Youth Environmental Leadership Award, under-25 category, sponsored by the Digicel Foundation.

Also counted among the winners were:

* Yvonne Hill of Sandy Bay Primary & Junior High and Desmond Campbell of Moneague College, The Environmental Foundation of Jamaica Champion Environment Teacher Award;

* Free Winnifred Beach Benevolent Society, The Scotiabank Jamaica Best Environmental Community Award; and

* Port Morant Primary & Junior High, The FirstCaribbean Most Environmentally Aware School Award.

Meanwhile, the award ceremony also incorporated the Schools’ Environment Programme (SEP) expo, which displayed the work of a selection of the top-performing schools participating in the SEP, and premiered a new short film celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) — organisers of JEAA.

“It is commendable what JET is doing here today to recognise those taking the initiative and dedicating their life’s work to improving the Jamaican environment,” noted Dr Dale Webber, chairman of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica.

Also the James Moss-Solomon senior professor of environmental management and director of the Centre for Marine Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Webbber went on to applaud the students present for stepping up to the challenge of being champions for Jamaica’s environment.

Diana McCaulay, chief executive officer for JET, for her part, said she was “heartened by the displays from our SEP schools, the work being done by the JEAA nominees, and the support from our donors and the private sector”.

“This was a great way to celebrate our 20th anniversary,” she added.