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STORY: IAEA / COASTAL POLLUTION
TRT: 3.53
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: JULY 2011, NUEVA VENECIA, COLOMBIA / SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA / LAKE MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
JULY 2011, NUEVA VENECIA, COLOMBIA
1. Various shots, people and houses in floating community
2. Tilt up, man on boat
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jesus Gregorio Suarez, Resident of Nueva Venecia:
“The importance of clean water is that the higher the water quality, the better the fish production is. Better fishing creates a more stable population, people don migrate to cities like Barranquilla or Cienaga. And with a more stable economy people live better lives and eat better, too.”
JULY 2011, LAKE MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
4. Wide shot, waste processing plant
JULY 2011, SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA
5. Wide shot, beach pollution
6. Pan left, shorefront community
7. Various shots, team on a boat recording samples
JULY 2011, LAKE MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
8. Close up, water analysis technique
9. Wide shot, group of scientists sampling water
JULY 2011, NUEVA VENECIA, COLOMBIA
10. Zoom out, Juan Pablo Parra and colleague readying sediment sampling, Colombia
11. Close up, sediment sampling process, container lowered to sea bed floor
12. Close up, Parra collecting sample
13. Close up, Sediment sampling process, container raised from sea bed floor
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Juan Pablo Parra, Instituto de Investigaciónes Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR):
“This sediment sample will be transported to the lab where we can identify sources of pollution and make a historical reconstruction of contamination. This will help us provide decision makers with first hand information to understand if counter-pollution measures are working or not. If these measures are not working, then other policies have to be adopted to reduce the environmental impact.”
JULY 2011, CENTRO PARA LA INVESTIGACIÓN EN RECURSOSACUÁTICOS DE NICARAGUA (CIRA), NICARAGUA
15. Med shot, technicians removing slices of samples from sediment sample
16. Med shot, samples ready for analysis
17. Close up, sediment sampling tube
18. Zoom in, technician analyzing samples
19. Close up, mouse click
20. Med shot, technician analyzing samples on computer
JULY 2011, INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES MARINAS Y COSTERAS (INVEMAR), COLOMBIA
21. Wide shot, Luisa Fernanda Espinosa Díaz and Juan Pablo Parra entering offices of Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR)
22. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luisa Fernanda Espinosa Díaz, Instituto de Investigaciónes Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR):
“The main beneficiaries of this regional project are regulatory bodies, like the Ministry of Environment, because we can provide information to influence legislation and point out the real situation of coastal areas. The population obviously benefits because if we understand that certain processes are damaging our oceans, we can implement control measures that raise the quality of life for our people.”
23. Zoom in, dried sediment sample, ready for analysis
24. Close up, Sediment sample in container
25. Close up, computer used during analysis
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is helping twelve countries in the Caribbean region to understand and manage coastal pollution. Concern over the growing incidence of pollution in the Caribbean has been on the rise, as it has the potential to affect livelihoods dependent on fishing and tourism.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jesus Gregorio Suarez, Resident of Nueva Venecia:
“The importance of clean water is that the higher the water quality, the better the fish production is. Better fishing creates a more stable population, people don migrate to cities like Barranquilla or Cienaga. And with a more stable economy people live better lives and eat better, too.”
The IAEA, through its Department of Technical Cooperation, had been supporting this regional project since 2007. The formal title of the project is “Use of Nuclear Techniques to Address the Management Problems of Coastal Zones in the Caribbean Region.” The twelve Caribbean countries participating in the project are Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela
Led by the IAEA’s experts in aquatic and marine environment, the project has established a network of experts and laboratories across the Caribbean basin. This network of scientists and laboratories are using nuclear techniques to uncover traces and types of pollution that settle in the sea bed.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Juan Pablo Parra, Instituto de Investigaciónes Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR):
“This sediment sample will be transported to the lab where we can identify sources of pollution and make a historical reconstruction of contamination. This will help us provide decision makers with first hand information to understand if counter-pollution measures are working or not. If these measures are not working, then other policies have to be adopted to reduce the environmental impact.”
The Caribbean network now trains further experts in nuclear techniques and provides isotopic analysis capacity. That analytical capacity now allows governments to identify and track pollution from the sea back to its source on land, where practices can be changed to prevent further pollution.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luisa Fernanda Espinosa Díaz, Instituto de Investigaciónes Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR):
“The main beneficiaries of this regional project are regulatory bodies, like the Ministry of Environment, because we can provide information to influence legislation and point out the real situation of coastal areas. The population obviously benefits because if we understand that certain processes are damaging our oceans, we can implement control measures that raise the quality of life for our people.”
In addition, the network collaborates to use and disseminate nuclear techniques to identify outbreaks of toxic “harmful algal bloom” that poison shellfish stocks and are triggered by land run-off.
