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Discovery Channel Canada director on Island to honour BEA awardees

At the gala: Governor Sir Richard Gozney, second from right, and Lady Gozney, centre, were honorary guests at the Bermuda Environmental Alliance gala at the Fairmont Hamilton. They are pictured with, from the left, BEA advisory committee chairman Phil Butterfield, BEA executive director Sangita Iyer and BEA chairman David Ezekiel.

The power of an uplifting message to inspire people to look after the environment was a key ingredient that led to a mini-series of Bermuda-made documentaries airing on Discovery Channel Canada.Visiting the Island for the first time the boss of the Toronto-based TV channel, Paul Lewis, paid tribute to the way the Bermuda Environmental Alliance (BEA) presented shows about Bermuda’s rainwater catching roofs, caves, cahows and biofuel research.He said the shows had engaged Discovery Channel Canada’s audience in an entertaining way.“It’s an attitude. An outlook on life. An emotional outburst. A celebration of all that is beautiful and fun and inspiring about the planet,” he said at a fundraising gala at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel.Mr Lewis explained Discovery Channel had learned that programmes about environmental challenges that preached doom and gloom or lectured viewers often resulted in people turning off or watching something else. However, shows that allowed audiences to experience for themselves the planet’s beauty and wonders motivated them to want to preserve and protect the environment.He said that is what led to the BEA’s miniseries being accepted from hundreds of submissions made to the TV channel. The shows aired last year as part of the ‘Daily Planet’ programme.Among guests at the Caribbean-themed gala were Governor Sir Richard and Lady Gozney, Tourism Minister Patrice Minors and former professional footballer Shaun Goater.BEA founding executive director Sangita Iyer will be signing copies of the ‘Bermuda Nature’s Jewel’ DVD at Shine Hayward’s House of Music and Entertainment, at 91 Reid Street, tomorrow at 5.30pm.l Useful websites: http://bermuda-bea.org

Impressed: Discovery Channel Canada president Paul Lewis, right, has praised the uplifting way the Bermuda Environmental Alliance presented the Island and its environmental stories to viewers in its ?Bermuda Nature?s Jewel? documentaries. Pictured with Mr Lewis are BEA chairman David Ezekiel and BEA executive director Sangita Iyer.<I></I>
Bermuda football legend Shaun Goater was one of the attendees at the Bermuda Environmental Alliance gala. He is pictured with his wife Altia, left, and BEA executive director Sangita Iyer.