Earth Hour Mauritius

Overview

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turned their lights off., for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Earth Hour quickly became an annual global event. It’s scheduled on the last Saturday of every March – closely coinciding with the equinox to ensure most cities are in darkness as it rolled out around the Earth.

Well back in June 2006, Association Civique Midlands (ACM) pioneered a similar initiative (local and at a far smaller scale though) in Mauritius by organising the first Candle-Night based upon the Japanese movement to switch off the lights. The Sydney 2007 movement was warmly welcomed and in 2007, ACM spearheaded the 1st Earth Hour in Mauritius at Domaine de Lagrave; the latter had for theme “Une Heure pour notre Terre”(literally meaning One Hour for Our Earth.

In 2008, ANPRAS (Allied Network for Policy Research and Advocacy for Sustainability) stepped in as a major promoter and organiser of the event which ACM staying as a privileged partner. The 2008 event was held at Casela Leisure and Nature Park and saw the participation of a couple of state ministers and environmental stakeholders. As from 2010, Earth Hour Mauritius has been roped into the wider umbrella programme known as Earth Mauritius.

In February 2012, ANPRAS/Earth-Mauritius became the official focal point and lead organiser for Earth Hour Global in Mauritius with Dr Raj Chintaram heading the local movement as the Country Team Director. The Country Team Mauritius (CTM) has thereafter been actively promoting the event at all strata within the country and many organisations stepped in to host Earth Hour events to celebrate this grand awareness campaign.

2012 Activity in a Nutshell

As is stands, the towns of Port-Louis and Curepipe and the two villages namely Cascavelle and Midlands will be actively involved with EH events. Earth Hour has also targeted industries and governmental organisations to switch off the lights on 31st March 2012.

The national celebrations of the event will be held in the beautiful town of Curepipe. Curepipe is one of the seven towns of the Republic of Mauritius and this beautiful town is located in the centre of island, most specifically in the district of Plaines Wilhems. Curepipe is the second most important town after the City of Port-Louis (Capital) and is also known as "La Ville Lumière" (in English "The Town of Light") since it was the first town in the island to run on electricity.

Queen Elizabeth Avenue is main historical street of Curepipe. The Municipal Council and historic landmarks like Hotel de Ville and the Carnegie Library are located along this street. There is a Carnegie library was established by the Carnegie Foundation in 1917 and is which is reputed for its manuscript-collection .L’Hotel de Ville is a stylish colonial building which stands as the pride of Curepipe; it also serves as the Town Hall.

The Organising Committee shall jointly be hosting the event with the Municipal Council of Curepipe. His Worship the Mayor of Curepipe and many Cabinet Ministers shall be attending the function. The Queen Elizabeth Ave and the two landmarks namely Carnegie Library and L’Hotel de Ville will light up at night.

A number of cultural items and earth poems will be on the agenda. 200 guests have been invited for the official event but a countrywide media campaign will start on 25th March to sensitize people to celebrate EH at each and every household in Mauritius.