‘World Environmental Education Day’ – good time to review our crucial relationships with the environment, especially children and nature

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‘Every January 26th we celebrate the World Environmental Education Day. This has its origin date from 1972 with the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in (Stockholm, Sweden, June 1972) ‘ . Stated at http://www.bluechannel24.com/.

Is ‘Environmental education’ as a pure course/theme still relevant? What ‘is’ EE and how does it function alongside other, closely related thematic approaches such as  ’education for sustainable development‘ , ‘experiential learning’ ….? Comments below,  or at https://twitter.com/#!/LearnFromNature, and http://www.facebook.com/NAEEUK

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Every January 26th we celebrate the World Environmental Education Day. This has its origin date from 1972 with the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in (Stockholm, Sweden, June 1972) in which it outlined the need for criteria and common principles to offer the people of the world inspiration and guidance for preserving and enhancing the environment.

The Environmental Education is a dynamic and participatory process that seeks to awaken in people an awareness that allows the environmental problems identified with both general (global) and specific level (environment where it lives).

It also seeks to identify relationships and independence of interactions that occur between the environment and the man and is also concerned to promote a harmonious relationship between the natural and human activities through sustainable development, all with ensure the sustainability and quality of current and future generations.

Let us recall some points of the treaty which states:

The man is simultaneously creature and moulder of his environment, which gives the material sustenance and bringing the opportunity to develop intellectually, morally, socially and spiritually.

On the long and tortuous evolution of the human race on this planet has reached a stage in which, thanks to the rapid acceleration of science and technology, man has acquired the power to transform, in countless ways and in a unprecedented scale, the surroundings.

The two aspects of the human environment, natural and artificial, are essential for human welfare and the enjoyment of fundamental human rights including the right to life itself.

Today, man’s ability to transform his surroundings, used with discernment can lead to all peoples the benefits of development and offer the opportunity to honor their existence.

But misapplied or recklessly, it can cause incalculable harm to human beings and their environment.

Around us we see multiply the evidence of damage caused by human in many regions of the earth: dangerous levels of water pollution, air, land and living things, major disruption of the ecological balance of the biosphere, destruction and depletion of irreplaceable resources and serious deficiencies, harmful to the physical, mental and social of the man, created by him , especially one in which he lives and works.

In developing countries, most environmental problems are caused by underdevelopment.

Therefore, developing countries must direct their efforts towards development, bearing in mind their priorities and the need to safeguard and improve the environment.

The natural growth of population continuously presents problems for the preservation of the environment, and should adopt appropriate policies and measures, as appropriate, to address these problems.

Of all the things in the world, humans are the most valuable. They are the people that propel social progress, create social wealth, develop science and technology and, through their hard work, continuously transform the human environment.

We have reached a moment in history when we must shape our actions throughout the world with more request that may have consequences for the environment. But by ignorance or indifference we can cause immense and irreparable harm to the earthly environment on which depend our lives and wellbeing.

By contrast, with a deeper knowledge and wiser action, we can achieve for ourselves and our posterity a better life in an environment more in line with the needs and aspirations of man’s life.

The Conference calls upon Governments and Peoples to work together to preserve and improve the environment for the benefit of man and his posterity.

The treaty aroused great expectations in the world, in the year 1975 within the framework of United Nations programs, was held in Belgrade, capital city of the Republic of Serbia, the International Seminar on Environmental Education with the participation of about 70 countries.

However, is not until the decade of the eighties when America fully engage to this environmentalist culture.

It is important to be aware of the environmental damage suffered by our planet and how to reverse them, to avoid, climate change and other phenomena that affect both ecosystems.

The main objective of environmental education is to create awareness among people and especially in the government as to the need for participation to preserve and protect the environment.

Currently intends to teach from nature, using it as an educational resource, we must train to improve and appreciate the environment, must be presented and learn correct behavior toward the environment, not just knowledge. This is the conception of nature as an inexhaustible source of resources to our service, but as a fragile ecosystem has its own requirements that must be respected in our own interest and survival.

It is necessary to create new models of sustainable development, we must ensure that small actions have a positive impact on the environment.

Click here for source Blue Channel 

Children and Nature Network 

Obama Administration ‘thinks’ about endangered species – and then exploits their habitats! Have your say…

Barack Obama, who I like and respect, has his Administration agreeing that 75% of the sea – including key species’ habitats – should be opened to exploration. As Leda Huta points out, this is huge…. What do YOU think? Agree or disagree? Comment below ,  https://twitter.com/LearnFromNature or http://www.facebook.com/pages/LearnFromNature/122123191208795

From Leda Huta, Executive Director, Endangered Species Coalition

President Obama has delivered his State of the Union address and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to pursuing a transition to clean energy, a move that could slow climate change and mitigate the harm done to imperiled species by fossil fuel development.

 

However, he also made this pledge:

“I’m directing my Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.”-President Obama, 1/24/12.

Seventy five percent is a lot of ocean.We don’t know exactly what 75% he’s referring to but the Interior Department has just proposed a 5-Year Offshore Drilling Program that would open up new portions of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Polar Bear Seas–the Chukchi and the Beaufort–to new drilling.

Tell the Obama Administration to protect endangered species from new offshore drilling!

The draft plan for where Big Oil may be allowed to drill in the next 5 years would put endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, bowhead whales, polar bearsand other imperiled species at risk. The BP spill demonstrated the perils of reckless drilling and the absence of a viable plan to deal with a spill. Unfortunately, the lessons of that spill have not resulted in enhanced protections.

Our recently released report, Fueling Extinction, highlighted the devastating impacts that fossil fuels are having on threatened and endangered wildlife, pushing species closer to the edge of extinction. This draft plan would make matters deeply worse.

Tell the Obama Administration no new offshore drilling without protections for endangered and threatened wildlife!

An Arctic spill is a crisis that the U.S. Coast Guard has said we have no capacity to respond to. The Beaufort and Chukchi Seas are icy, inhospitable waters with gale-force winds, 20 foot swells and ice floes dozens of feet high. A spill there would be disastrous for polar bears, bowhead whales, and other Arctic species.

New Gulf drilling must reflect lessons learned from the BP spill and be sited out of endangered species habitat. We saw all too clearly the impact of Big Oil’s recklessness on Gulf wildlife. Endangered and threatened species such as the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle suffered as a result of bad planning and absent regulation. We can’t allow that history to be repeated.

Take action for endangered species–tell the Obama Administration that new any new drilling plan must protect endangered species.

Thank you for your commitment to protecting America’s wildlife.

 

Say NO to New Arctic and Gulf Drilling in Endangered Species Habitat

Safeguard Species from Offshore Oil

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The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is accepting public comments on an outline for where Big Oil may be allowed to drill over the next 5 years. The current draft plan calls for expanded drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and opens the door for unprecedented and risky drilling in the Arctic.

In the Arctic, Polar bears, bowhead whales, and other endangered and threatened species would be put at immediate risk by new drilling authorized by this 5 year plan.  This plan would open up both of Alaska’s Polar Bear Seas–the Chukchi and the Beaufort–to oil development.

In the Gulf, endangered species such as the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle would face the threat of another spill while still recovering from the Gulf spill. Necessary new protections for endangered Gulf species have not been enacted and new drilling would put Guilf wildlife at risk.

Please take action today by sending your comment to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) calling for adequate protections for endangered and threatened wildlife prior to allowing any new oil development.

Links : Endangered Species Coalition http://www.facebook.com/stopextinction & https://twitter.com/savespecies

Oilspill Update : City refuses to pay for Rena campaign

From the Bay of Plenty Times

The city council has refused to give the region’s tourism agency the $600,000 it wants for an advertising campaign to improve Tauranga’s battered image after the Rena disaster. WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD HAPPEN? twitter.com/#!/LearnFromNature

The shipping company that chartered the vessel could now be the last hope to bankroll the campaign.

Tourism Bay of Plenty is trying to raise $600,000 to run the campaign to counter the damage caused by the disaster.

Chairman Paul Bowker found a lot of sympathy but no takers at yesterday’s council meeting.

Mayor Stuart Crosby offered a ray of hope that some of the $1 million donated by the charterer of the Rena, the Mediterranean Shipping Company, could be used to help fund the campaign.

The shipping company has asked the mayors and chief executives of the Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty District councils to suggest ways to distribute the $1 million based on four categories: Business losses with an emphasis on tourism, cleaning up the coastline, wildlife care and assistance for iwi.

Mr Crosby told the Bay of Plenty Times there was a strong possibility some of the money could go to Tourism BOP’s recovery campaign.

The Western Bay council has already declined making a contribution on the basis that its priority was the Psa outbreak, and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council has already made a $25,000 contribution to cover costs associated with organising the campaign.

Tourism BOP has so far spent or allocated $266,000 on the campaign, including the development of the concept, without securing the $600,000 needed to make it happen.

Cr Catherine Stewart led the move to decline the request for funding, saying that the weather and the economy were other influences affecting tourism. Some businesses’ revenues were up because of the influx of people into the Bay to deal with the disaster.

She said ratepayers were already being squeezed and she wondered if Tourism BOP was aware of the fiscal constraints and major financial challenges facing the council.

Tourism BOP’s recovery campaign manager Linda Macpherson said the potential losses from the Rena were $1.2 million a day. Fifty-five per cent of operators were negatively affected by the disaster, 70 per cent reported that business was down over the Christmas-New Year period and that they expected the Rena to continue to hit their businesses for the next 18 months.

Without mentioning the names of businesses, she said a marine operator had closed and another had lost $50,000, two accommodation providers were down $148,000 and $9000 respectively, a grocery retailer had lost $109,000 and a sports event $15,000.

Ms Macpherson said the campaign aimed to reverse the risk of lasting damage to the Bay’s reputation as a visitor destination by arresting negative perceptions and rebuilding the Bay brand. The campaign would not be launched until they knew the Bay would not be subjected to any more oil spills or outbreaks of containers.

Mr Bowker said Tourism BOP had a mandate to boost tourism and was left in a difficult situation because, without resources, there was nothing it could do.

“The reason we are standing here is because we have exhausted our [funding] avenues … is doing nothing the right option,” he said.

Mr Crosby added a positive note to Cr Stewart’s resolution by adding that the council would continue to work with Tourism BOP to assist in seeking funds. “We still have a role to play.”

Tourism BOP, a council-controlled organisation, receives $775,000 a year from the city council and $169,000 from the district council, totalling $944,000.

Comments : 

Trueblue62
Oh poor old Tourism Bay of Plenty … after receiving $1million bucks from the ratepayers AND STILL they seek to “benefit” from a disaster/tragedy at the expense of others?? Why don’t they use some of their “funds” they have managed to acquire from the “monopolisation” of the current cruise ship season? Now their hopes are with first “bludging” more from the rate payers who have funded them anyway with tax payer money – getting a “NO”, and now they hope to get another ‘handout’ from the Shipping company. What did they do with all the cash from the $1million? There are more community organisations in need of this funding than ‘greedy’ bearaucrats with an agenda that were adversely affected by the Rena. Did Graeme Marshall (former Chairman of TBOP – YOU KNOW – the guy with more heads than he can put hats on) or the incoming chairman of TBOP – Bowker, get their hands dirty to help clean up the oil on the beaches? DON’T THINK SO! No, They’re too busy sitting at board tables figuring out how to spend tax payers money without doing anything for it!

 

Rachel Carson , Rotorua :
You know, I have often wondered why Tauranga has significantly lagged behind the rest of the region as an international tourist destination. Part of the reason was probably that its brand managers and marketers simply weren’t far sighted enough a few years back and Rotorua got to enjoy much of the passenger influx of cruise ships for quite a long time before the city began to peg back what it had lost through its RTO-of-the-time’s inertia. Funding is absolutely crucial – and in this instance, damage control is even moreso. As an RTO , they are best suited towards that end and the council is literally shooting itself in the foot by not taking this on board. No pun intended. The perspective that potential visitors have is the key and whether their perspectives are correct or not, at the moment, they are more negative than positive. Tauranga may depend on the port as a vital player – but there are people whose livelihoods are very much at stake and tourism is a key player in the region; these people need to be looked after by the council that represents them. One million dollars is chump change… but the money that it could potentially bring into the economy is significant enough to warrant the expenditure. And finally, it is obvious TrueBlue has no concept of the role an RTO is supposed to play on a national and international level. It is not designed for regional roles and too many ratepayers don’t seem to understand what it actually does.

Whale strandings : pilot whales in New Zealand’s Golden Bay

Thirty-eight pilot whales which stranded in Golden Bay yesterday have re-stranded, despite a successful refloating exercise this morning. 3News reports on a natural tragedy that still baffles scientist. *** Please post comments below, at https://twitter.com/#!/LearnFromNature or http://www.facebook.com/pages/LearnFromNature/122123191208795

My FACT SHEET REGARDING STRANDINGS http://environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com/jargon-busterfor-kids/cetacean-strandings/

A 3 News cameraman at the scene said rescuers were now working in waist-deep water where the whales had re-stranded.

“We tried to encourage them to move to deeper water, but they wouldn’t move,” Department of Conservation Golden Bay manager John Mason told NZ Newswire.

“They just milled around in a group and didn’t show any inclination to move, other than 4-500m down the beach.”

Project Jonah’s Kim Muncaster says one whale lead the others into shore.

“After [we] refloated them, one of the larger whales made a determined attempt to get back on shore,” she says.

The other whales then followed – causing them to re-strand.

The rescue mission is made worst by the fact the tide is quickly receding, with low-tide forecast for just after 5pm.

DOC spokesman Nigel Mountfort says the whales are stuck “high and dry, exactly where they were yesterday”.

For now, the plan is to cover the whales in sheets, keep them wet, keep the sun off them and shovel around their tails and fins to help them stay upright.

Once night falls and the tide starts coming in, it is hoped the whales will refloat themselves, Mr Mountfort says.

Project Jonah and DOC will review the situation in the morning, but it is too dangerous for volunteers to stay in the area overnight.

Almost 100 pilot whales stranded about 7 kilometres from the base of Farewell Spit on Monday, in the third mass stranding of the summer.

Volunteers and Project Jonah worked throughout the night to keep them alive.

Thirty-four whales did not survive the night but 39 were refloated at high-tide this morning.

By midday the whales were 200m offshore with volunteers coaxing them out to deeper water.

Twenty-six that refloated themselves overnight were seen swimming away this afternoon.

Mr Mason said the unfortunate turn of events was “disappointing”.

“We put a lot of work in trying to refloat the whales and they chose not to go. It’s disappointing but we will try and refloat them again and hopefully they will choose to leave.”

About 50 people had volunteered to help with rescue efforts, with people travelling from as far as Australia, Auckland and Invercargill to take part.

Mr Mountford said the dead whales would either be buried or left to dry out in the dunes.

3 News / NZN

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Pilot-whales-re-strand-despite-rescue-attempts/tabid/1160/articleID/240464/Default.aspx#ixzz1kSu12vF4

Video http://www.3news.co.nz/Mass-stranding-Volunteers-work-to-refloat-39-pilot-whales/tabid/1216/articleID/240441/Default.aspx

Action for the planet : Earth Hour is March 31st ….

This Earth Hour 2012: 8.30pm, Saturday 31 March, celebrate your action for the planet with the people of world by switching off your lights for an hour, then go beyond the hour.

http://www.facebook.com/earthhour & https://twitter.com/#!/earthhour

The logo for Earth Hour

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Earth Hour is a unique opportunity for you to become more sustainable and do something positive for the environment. It’s been the source of inspiration for millions of people taking steps towards a cleaner, safer future. It’s not just about saving energy for one hour, it’s about going Beyond the Hour with lasting, behaviour-changing actions for a sustainable planet.

There are lots of ways you can take action for Earth Hour. Whether you’re a social media fan or a hands-on organiser, you’re sure to find some inspiration  right here!

For details, click here : http://www.earthhour.org/page/get-involved/join-community