The 2024 "World Oceans Day and National Marine Billboard Day" series of activities were held by Guangxi University on Weizhou Island, Beihai

World Oceans Day and National MarineBillboardDay is an important windowfor the practice and dissemination ofXi Jinping thought on ecological civilization, as well asmarinepolicyinterpretation,marine knowledgepopularization,marine cultureinheritance, andenhancing public marine awareness andwisdom of harmonious co-existencebetween humans and nature.

June 8, 2024 is the 16th "World Oceans Day" and the 17th " National MarineBillboardDay ".The theme of thiscelebrationis"New Depth AwakentoReappearance Coral Sea".On the morning of June 7,a series ofactivities were heldat theSouth BayMarine-Sports-Base on Weizhou Islandand thecoralreefrestoration areaon the northof island. That event washosted byGuangxi University andOceanic AdministrationofGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,organized bySchool of Marine Sciences at Guangxi University,Guangxi Laboratoryon the Study ofCoral Reef in theSCS and the Management CommitteeofWeizhou IslandTouristAttraction,Beihai.

The activities mainly included 4 parts:

“Seeking national prosperity and strength from the ocean”AchievementsPressCeremony

Beach Cleanup

“Adopt a Coral”and planting corals fragments underwater

2024 Guangxi CoralWatchOpening Ceremony and Volunteer Certificate Awarding Ceremony

Deputy Director Lu Jinxuofthe Management CommitteeofWeizhou IslandTouristAttractiondelivered a speech.Hecongratulated and thanked theSchool of Marine Sciences at Guangxi Universityfor its remarkable achievements in coral reef research and ecological restoration.Lu Jinxu highlighted the key role of oceans and coral reefs in marine carbon storage and carbon cycles, as well ascurrentcrises. He also emphasized Weizhou Island, with its unique resources’advantages, andcalled on everyone tostart with themselves,pay attention to the oceanandcherishto protectcoral reefs.Dr. Huang Wen, Director of theCoral Reef Museum on Weizhou island of theSchool of Marine Sciences at Guangxi University,introduced the remarkable achievementsof our team oncoral reef protection and restoration, marineenvironmentalmonitoringetc.,whichcontributedtothe development ofmarineresearchin Guangxi and nationwide.Liu Qiulin,GeneralManager of Beihai Xinyi Cruise Co., Ltd., and Li Wu,SecretaryGeneral of the Diving AssociationinWeizhou Island, respectively introduced to the attendeesoftheir respective organizations' activeinvolvement inBeach Cleanupandocean protection public welfare activities.During the discussion session, individuals from all walks of life offered suggestions for coral reef protection, shared the effects of coral protection science popularization and ecological restoration,and discussed future sustainable initiatives.

Lu Jinxu (left),DeputyDirector ofofthe Management CommitteeofWeizhou IslandTouristAttraction, and Huang Wen (right), Director of theCoral Reef Museum on Weizhou island of theSchool of Marine Sciences at Guangxi University, delivered speeches.

Liu Qiulin (left),GeneralManager of Beihai Xinyi Cruise Co., Ltd., and Li Wu (right),SecretaryGeneral of the Diving AssociationinWeizhou Island, delivered speeches.

EventSite

After the opening ceremony, a "Beach Cleanup" was held attheSouth BayMarine-Sports-Base on Weizhou Island. More than 20 volunteers equipped with cleaning tools and worked in groups to collect and sort discarded waste along the shoreline.They popularized the new concept of "sustainable travel" to tourists, residents and businesses on the island, calling on everyone tochangepoor habits, improve the environmental quality of Weizhou Island,known as the "Most Beautiful Island",and encourage everyone to take action to protect the marine ecological environment of Weizhou Island.

Volunteers carried out the "Beach Cleanup"

Popularize the concept of "sustainable travel" to tourists

At the event site, Li Yuxiao from theCoral Reef Museum on Wezhou island of theSchool of Marine Sciences at Guangxi Universityinvited guests to join the “CoralProtection PlanofWeizhou Island”.ThePlanlaunches“Adopt a Coral”activity andrelieson the successful coral reef restoration and cultivation technology oftheSchool of Marine Sciencesinwater field ofWeizhou Island.It mobilizes societal efforts to jointly engage in coral conservation, aiming for widespread public education, protection and participation.Li Yuxiao led the leaders and guests on the scene to personally fix the baby corals onto coral nurseries and naming them.Afterwards, Dr. Huang Wen, Director of theCoral Reef Museum on Weizhou island of theSchool of Marine Sciences at Guangxi University, led professional divers to plant the corals in the restorationwatersof Weizhou Island.Through "Adopt a Coral" activity, participants had the opportunity to personally experience the importance of coral protection, enhancedtheir awareness and sense of responsibility towards marine ecologicalconservation, promotedcoral conservation efforts and public engagement.

Li Yuxiao introduced the process and significance of the "Adopt a Coral" activity

"Adopt a Coral" activity

Planting adopted corals in the restoration area

This event also held2024 Guangxi CoralWatchOpening Ceremony and Volunteer Certificate Awarding Ceremony, which shows the emphasis and concern on the coral reef environment in Guangxi.We hope to better protect and restore the ecosystem of the Beibu Gulf throughthe“GuanxiCoralWatch”.

Certificates were awarded to the volunteersof“GuanxiCoralWatch”

Text by: Zhou Jian, Li Yuxiao, Qin Bo

Photos by: Sun Feilong, Wei Tingyu