This year’s Coastweeks 2014 will kick off next week Monday, September 15 with canoe races that will begin right behind the DDW Cafe. The opening ceremony is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m., followed by the races.

Locally, Coastweeks is coordinated by the Department of Commerce (DOC), but it is their goal this year to involve other agencies, the private sector and the public in their quest to sustain a clean environment. The DOC, specifically the American Samoa Coastal Management Program (ASCMP), along with other ASG departments have been holding meetings to gather ideas from the public and private sector for ways to make Coastweeks 2014 the best ever.

This year’s Coastweeks will run from Sept.15 - Sept. 27.

“This year, we'll be kicking off it off with a canoe challenge, where we will be having participants from the government agencies and private sectors competing,” said Marvis Vaiaga’e who is the Consolidated Permit Review Manager for the Department of Commerce under ASCMP. He also says there is an island wide coastal cleanup planned for next week Friday, September 19.

“The island wide cleanup will involve some of the faith based groups and the general community, along with government agencies,” he said.

For closing day, they have planned a Beach and Family Day. "We have a big invitation to the entire community to bring their kids and family out to help us enjoy our coastal resources and celebrate how important it is to us here in American Samoa,” he said.

Coastweeks is a national celebration of our coastal resources, and the celebration is focused on the environment and the importance of the territory’s coastal zone. Look to Samoa News for the opening day activities and ongoing celebration of this year’s 2014 Coastweeks.

According to their schedule, some of the events will include educational events and workshops during the two weeks of the celebration, along with a Mangrove Restoration Project that will take place on Thursday September 18.  In an attempt to give back to the environment, they will be planting mangrove seedlings and plants. On Friday September 19, there will be a Seafood Festival spotlighting benefits of healthy coastal zone restaurants, and interested participants will be invited to display their signature seafood dishes.

One of the outreach projects will have the ASCMP Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staff conducting GIS participatory mapping workshops with high school students to share how to use tools developed for mapping and to support land use and coastal zone management.

Keep reading Samoa News for more exciting events being planned for Coastweeks 2014.