Public Awareness Program

The Public Awareness Campaign, or PAC, of the American Samoa Coastal Management Program (ASCMP) is an attempt to come up with an eclectic approach to educating American Samoa’s island community. The ultimate goal is to engage the public as a whole to take the lead on environmental issues and act responsibly to preserve the Territory’s limited resources.

The PAC is needed to help gain public support of ASCMP. We use several different strategies to get our environmental conservation messages out of the office and into the villages. These Strategies include and are not limited to: (1) outreach visits to schools and village groups, (2) conducting workshops, (3) interactive demonstrations, (4) utilizing media mediums, (5) working with other groups concerned with environmental issues and (6) promoting environmentally sound practices during public events. These strategies are all implemented to accomplish the goal of the Public Awareness Program, to build public understanding of environmental issues affecting the Territory and to recruit our residents to care for our environment.

Much of the public outreach visits are done with Le Tausagi, a cooperative, non-profit, interagency, environmental educators group. ASCMP’s PAC Program annually celebrates wide success with several community-wide education events throughout the year with events such as the following:

Wetlands Month  This annual May event celebrates the wonderful ways wetlands enrich the environment and people. It is a time to give back to the environment by learning more about wetlands and participating in the scheduled events such as trivia questions and presentations to various youth groups. Wetland presentations are scheduled across the island to educate, involve and engage the general public to better understand the value of one of earth’s most important ecosystems. 

Aua CCCASYouth	Alofau Elementry Sch.

Environ-Discoveries Camp  This year ASCMP, in cooperation with Le Tausagi, held three very successful sessions; two on Tutuila and one in Aunu’u. This camp is designed to get kids out into their natural surroundings by doing fun activities such as hiking, kayaking and swimming, snorkeling, and fun games that deal with identifying various elements of nature. By teaching children the value of appreciating their natural surroundings, we increase the chances that they will develop for themselves a sense of ownership of nature and a desire to protect our environment.

Aunu'u Camp Session	Utulei Beach, Swimming lessons	Aua Land Grand Tour

Coast weeks  This annual event is the largest environmental awareness project in the Territory. Usually two weeks in September, the PAC staff schedules activities that cater to all tiers of the island’s social structure. Some of these activities include:  kayaking excursions, tours to historical sites such as the Tia Seu Lupe by Fatu-o-Aiga; tours to the National Park of American Samoa; tours to the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary; tours to the Faisua Hatchery; tours to the Aquaculture farm; poetry writings; art work contest; tracking the gecko; radio environmental trivia; media talk shows on coastal related issues; public outreach etc. The possibilities for each year’s activities vary from year to year and are endless. Prizes and awards are given out every year for the active participants. The festivities are guaranteed to be fun for the whole family.

Fagatele Bay Tour

Aquaculture Farm Tour

Art and Tide Calendar  The Coastal Zone Management Calendar is one of the most popular activities the program sponsors. Students from around the territory compete in an art and poetry competition to have their work selected for the calendar. The contest was kicked-off again during the Coast weeks celebration at the beginning of the school year.

Coastal Science Symposium  This has been a successful program for students who excel academically in science research in relation to the preservation of coastal resources. As sub-granted to the Department of Education to coordinate this effort, a local symposium is held every year. ASCMP, with DOE co-sponsorship, continues to encourage parents, students and educators to promote and protect the islands’ coastal environment in this event. The Coastal Symposium directly benefits the participants academically. It also stimulates friendly competitiveness among the science teachers and schools in partaking in this educational awareness effort.

Various educational brochures, pamphlets, videos, posters, booklets, and more are readily available to the public. For more information concerning the Public Awareness Campaign, please feel free to contact Soli Tuaumu, Public Awareness Coordinator at (684) 633-5155 or via email at stuaumu@doc.asg.as