Ocean Day 8th June 2009

When:

Jun 8, 2009 12:00 am - Jun 9, 2009 12:00 am

Time Zone:

(GMT-4:00) America: New York

 “Our Ocean,

our Responsibility”

Message from Dr. Awni Behnam,

President, International Ocean Institute'

On 8th June the international community will celebrate Ocean Day. This year the theme is Our Ocean, our Responsibility. The founder of IOI, Elisabeth Mann Borgese, the mother of the oceans, wrote:  “The ocean is the real thing, covering almost three quarters of the surface of our blue planet; the continents are floating islands on the world ocean; the ocean links and unites the continents, rather than separating them. The world ocean is our common heritage.”

By that she meant precisely that the ocean is the responsibility of our humanity. However the

unconscionable state of deterioration of the ocean, the governance deficit and the abdication of common

sense duties and responsibilities that are based on decency, moral and ethical values to safeguard this

precious source of life is a damning testimony of the failure of generations of our humanity.

Although our ignorance of the ocean is profound, I believe we collectively have the will and the tools that

can guarantee future generations a sustainable life on this planet. We have a unique opportunity to

influence the course of events and to change mankind’s current unacceptable relationship with the ocean

to one of “living with the ocean and from the ocean in a sustainable relationship”. This responsibility is at

the very heart of the legacy and mission of our founder and to which, we at IOI on this day of 8th June 2009,

recommit ourselves. Let us all remember that the ocean can live without human beings but we cannot live

without the ocean.

IOInforma