Limited space but Pine Cay Project helps the return of DECR Junior Park Warden Program

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, June 25, 2022 – The 22nd staging of the Junior Park Warden Program is set for this July and your kids can be a part of it!

Sponsored by the Pine Cay Project the program was started in 2000 and Department of Environment and Coastal Resources representative Amy Avenant says it has been wildly successful so far with several students going on to become professionals in the environmental field.

This year students age 10-12 will be hosted from the 4th to the 8th of July and teens 13-16 will be hosted from the 11th to the 15th of July. The program will be held at the National Environmental Center on lower bight road. Admission as usual is free but spaces are limited.

“Due to safety and ensuring that everyone gets a quality experience we have to limit the numbers” she explained.

The early birds who do sign up will be able to take part in kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, learning to swim and snorkel and sessions with environmentalists.

“We have some experts that come in, previously we’ve had Catherine Hart from the Turks and Caicos Turtle project and whale projects come speak to children and tag a turtle with them.” Avenant said.

This year the focus is climate change and instead of just the regular “gloom and doom of climate change” Avenant says the DECR will be focused on climate action and how children can become climate activists.

“We will be focused on teaching them how to use their voices through effective and kind activism.”

Despite the Turks and Caicos’ small size Avenant says we have power in numbers and as a region can demand change from larger countries that can turn the tide of the climate emergency

“We are educating students on the serious implications we face as an island but also what they can do to quite frankly stand up and save their home for themselves and future generations.”

Interested parents can email Amy to apply at aavenant@gov.tc.