ABOUT HELMEPA
The Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA), one of the most historic environmental organizations, for over 41 years remains at the forefront for the protection of seas and coasts, the safety at sea, and sustainable development. Founded in 1982 by visionary Greek shipowners and seafarers, HELMEPA’s mission is to « Save the Seas » and safeguard a clean and healthy marine environment to future generations. Today, the Association has evolved into an open participatory platform of volunteerism, collaboration, and collective action with 262,000 volunteers, 14,200 seafarers, 2,273 vessels and 316 member-companies.
Standing by the new generation, HELMEPA maintains a longstanding relationship of trust and interaction with future leaders through its programs. HELMEPA Junior (ages 5-11), which was launched in Greek schools in 1993, HELMEPA Cadets (ages 12-18), and Youth Ambassadors (15+ years old). To date, more than 450,000 students have visited the HELMEPA Junior exhibitions, and 136,000 students (from 4,214 schools) have participated in 45,000 environmental activities, along with 8,640 teachers-volunteers, gaining valuable knowledge about the role of the oceans.
CLEANUPS
For the year 2024, HELMEPA plans to organize more than 100 cleanups and collect more than 80 tons of waste
ABOUT PLANET 2024
PLANET 2024 is a world movement on nature conservation and restoration, driven by a coalition of organizations across the globe. As part of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, PLANET 2024 aims to mobilize civil society and businesses to accelerate concrete initiatives to restore the planet.
ABOUT THE UN DECADE ON ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION 2021-2030
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change, and stop the collapse of biodiversity. The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change.
