Earth Hour march fills Male' streets with young eco-advocates

Earth Hour Maldives hosted a 'Climate March' on Saturday, gathering the participation of over 3,700 students in Capital City Male' alone.

Students from multiple schools were present at the event, marching towards the eastern Artificial Beach from the 'Rasfannu' artificial beach, on the central road 'Majeedhee Magu'.

As a result, the march impeded traffic flow on the island and caused a standstill.

According to local media Mihaaru, eyewitnesses stated that they had never witnessed such a large gathering of people advocating for environmental reforms.

In addition to students, the march was joined by numerous parents, government authorities, non-profit organizations and businesses.

Earth Hour Maldives' Advocacy Director Maeed Zahir, stated that marches were held across multiple islands. However, Maeed did not reveal at the time whether a march was held in every inhabited island, per the organization's initial plan.

The event, held with the cooperation of Maldives Women's Association, is part of a campaign seeking to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags throughout Maldives and will continue throughout the year in all parts of the country.

Additionally, the event featured various public talks throughout planned stops in the march.

"It is important that students and older people to participate in such environmental activities. In the future, advocates for environmental rights will stem from today's students. Hence, yesterday was a successful day.", said Maeed.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

As a symbol of commitment to the planet, the annual event encourages individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electronics from 2030 hours to 2130 hours, on a specified day towards late March.

It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.