Celebrating nature through cinema

The month of June saw the launch of activities for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, as well as celebrations for two other international days: World Oceans Day and the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. To mark these occasions, FAO Liaison Office in Brussels, the United Nations Environment Programme Office in Brussels (UNEP) and the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC) joined forces to organize two separate film screenings.

On World Oceans Day, 8 June, the audience took an armchair voyage across the Mediterranean by watching Silent Fish, screened in partnership with Oceana, an international organization focused on oceans. The film captures the lives of fishers across the Mediterranean Sea who struggle to make ends meet and whose livelihoods are themselves at risk, together with the fish that support them.

After the screening, experts from FAO, Oceana and the European Commission joined fishers and environmentalists from the region to talk to the audience about some of the challenges faced by these fragile communities, and their impact at an economic and social level. The interactive panel discussion was enriched by contributions from FAO Senior Fishery Officer for the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean Miguel Bernal. Other speakers included fisherman Federico Gelmi, UNEP Young Champion of the Earth and founder of non-profit social enterprise Eneleia Lefteris Arapakis, EU Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Science and Policy Officer Anne-Cécile Dragon, and Marine Protection Campaign Director at Oceana Nicolas Fournier.

Later in the month, to mark World Environment Day and the first day of the European Development Days on 15 June, FAO Liaison Office in Brussels, UNEP, UNRIC and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) transported the audience to the Sahel region, through a film called Great Green Wall. This documentary offers a story of resilience, optimism and collective action by casting the spotlight on an ambitious African-led initiative to grow an 8 000 km wall of trees stretching across the entire width of the continent, with the aim of restoring land and providing a future for millions of people.

After a short introduction from Veronika Hunt Safrankova, head of the UNEP Brussels Office, and Camilla Nordheim-Larsen, UNCCD Senior Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Coordinator and producer of the film, a panel discussion featured FAO Senior Forestry Officer for Africa Nora Berrahmouni. She is closely involved in FAO’s Action Against Desertification programme, a flagship initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, which is making a significant contribution to Africa’s Great Green Wall project by combating climate change and desertification through large-scale land restoration for small-scale farmers across North Africa, the Sahel and Southern Africa.

Other speakers included African Union Coordinator of the Great Green Wall Initiative for the Sahara and Sahel Elvis Tangem and European Commission Directorate-General for International Partnerships Director for Africa Sandra Kramer.