WHITEHOUSE, Westmoreland – Sandals Whitehouse has taken a bold move towards environmental preservation by inducting 21 impressionable young minds into its Reef and Forest Keepers Club, as part of a pilot programme geared at creating future environmental stewards and encouraging a love for the outdoors.

The programme, a first of its kind for the luxury-included resort, was launched during a recent five-day Science and Environment camp at the resort.

The camp engaged children ages eight to12 years old from the neighbouring communities of Beeston Spring, Culloden and Whitehouse, as well as children from Black River and Savanna-la-Mar.

The initiative was supported by the Scientific Research Council (SRC), University of Technology (UTech) Environmental Sciences Division in the Faculty of Science and Sport, and several other community and local partners.

When asked why the resort decided to embark on the initiative, the resort’s Environment, Health and Safety Manager, Vilma Smith, noted that Sandals Resorts International (SRI) prides itself on having developed a robust set of environmental best practices and continuously supports efforts towards environmental protection.

“Creating a truly sustainable programme towards the preservation of our natural resources requires the involvement of the larger community, and our number one safeguard for the future is our children,” said Smith.

Throughout the camp, children were given instruction in five general science classroom sessions, which covered topics including: photosynthesis and plants; ecology and water pollution, and food chains/food webs, as well as the lionfish as an invasive species.

The highlights of the camp, however, were the field work sessions and trips incorporated into each day’s itinerary.

Among the field trips was an educational tour of the Sandals Whitehouse 16,000 square-foot plant nursery, which houses over 70 varieties of plants. The children were also treated to a glass-bottom boat tour of the Whitehouse Marine Sanctuary with marine wardens from the Sandals Foundation.

The experience allowed the children an opportunity to observe the reef and point out some of the sea creatures, which they were learning about in their class sessions.

A tour of the Beeston Spring Bee Farm proved to be very interesting and informative to the campers, as well as camp facilitators.

Paulette Blackwood, head of the faculty of applied sciences at the Belmont Academy and one of the camp’s facilitators, said that the Science and Environment Camp was particularly useful, as it provided an opportunity for the participants to learn science concepts in a practical way.

“Science needs to be taught in a manner where children can see the practical application of the concepts and not learn the concepts in a vacuum. Throughout the camp, the children were able to transfer and apply the theoretical concepts to the practical aspects through the field visits, and this really captured their attention and piqued their interest,” she said.

For Sianeffe Campbell, another camp participant, the camp was informative.

“I really loved the sessions about the ocean and the marine life and it has definitely left me more interested in science and the natural environment which we often take for granted,” he said.

Christine O’Sullivan, lecturer in the Environmental Sciences Division at UTech, who was also a facilitator at the camp, believes “we can always do more to get children involved and interested in the environment”, as he applauded Sandals Whitehouse for their latest effort.

“Jamaica already has some great programmes, like the Jamaica Environment Trust’s School Environment Programme, but obviously not every student can be reached so the more that’s done the greater the impact,” she stressed.

“I think it’s important to incorporate information on the environment into every aspect of society so that children and adults alike become more environmentally aware and better stewards for Jamaica’s natural resources.”