8 April 2013: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has announced Daniel Namosuaia, of the Solomon Star newspaper, as the 2012 winner of the Vision Pasifika Award, on the theme “Clean Pacific,” in the framework of the Pacific campaign addressing waste management issues in the region.

Namosuaia won the Award for his story “Wastes of our City,” which highlights issues and solutions with waste management practices in Honiara. A special commendation award was given to Papua New Guinea (PNG) journalist Helen Rei for a story on ocean clean-up in PNG.

The goal of the Clean Pacific Campaign is to support grassroots action for waste reduction and management, pollution prevention and hazardous chemicals management, including training of waste champions. According to Nanette Woonton, SPREP, the Award aims to strengthen the role of Pacific media in advocating and raising awareness for good environmental practices.

The Award is a partnership initiative by SPREP and the Capacity-building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries Project by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Commission. This is the fourth year of the Award. [SPREP Press Release] [Clean Pacific Campaign Website]