The UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Rabat partnered with the Moroccan National Railway Office to promote the UN Ocean Conference at 29 train stations across the country.
Travellers watched screens displaying messages from the UN campaign “Save the oceans, protect the future”.
UNIC Rabat hoped to reach the approximately 35 million passengers who transit through train stations in Morocco annually.
The images, facts, and videos raised awareness of the strategic importance of the ocean and marine ecosystems for the planet and for socio-economic development.
It also draws attention to the existential threats these fragile ecosystems are facing due to human activity, such as global warming, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and plastic pollution.
The visuals show that business as usual is no longer an option. If we don’t rein in or reverse current trends, there is a real risk that we will have more plastic than fish in our oceans.
We must organize nationally and globally to reach Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.
The sound management of marine life is an issue of particular relevance in a country like Morocco, which has hundreds of kilometres of coastal areas along the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
These areas host extremely important development activities, like fishing (2.3% of GDP, 10% of the country’s exports and 600,000 jobs), seaside tourism, and port activity.
This campaign coincided with the United Nations Oceans Conference in Lisbon from 27 June to 1 July.
See more of the oceans campaign on Twitter at @CinuRabat.
