The United Nations Focal Person on Ocean Literacy in Nigeria, Mrs Rita Inko-Taria, has emphasised the need to protect the ocean globally as the world marked the 2022 Ocean Day yesterday.

Inko-Taria made the call during a programme organised by the Energy and Maritime Reporters (EMR) in Port Harcourt to commemorate the event.

She described the theme of this year’s event “Revitalisation and Collective Action for the Ocean” as apt, and said there was the need to revive the declining state of the ocean health.

The UN focal person also said that everyone needed to be ocean literate so as to restore and conserve it for the present and future generations.

She said society should change their behaviours towards the ocean as well as value and respect it to be able to preserve it.

“Ocean as the largest and widest part of the earth is very important. If the environment is unhealthy because of the activities of man, it disturbs the ocean and when the ocean is unhealthy it degrades the society,” she said.

Inko-Taria noted that studies had shown that by 2050, there would be more plastic materials in the country and this would bring about an unhealthy environment.

“We can testify that we have degraded our environment, our mangroves and our oceans. When the ocean is unhealthy it affects the climate and it makes the climate unhealthy, ” she added.

An environmentalist, Mr Fynface Fynface, also emphasised that society should take the responsibility of protecting the ocean.

Fynface said that indiscriminate dumping of plastic and waste would deplete the ocean resources if not checked.

Earlier, the Chairman of EMR, Mr Martins Giadom, noted that since the ocean covered 71 per cent of the earth surface, it was essential to pay attention to it.

Giadom stated that the Niger Delta had a huge stake in the Atlantic Ocean and should be very much concerned about what was happening to it.