Nurture Youth to grow environmentally friendly 2016
The drive to make Cameroon an emerging economy by 2035 and increasing demand for resources to satisfy the needs of the fast growing population of Cameroon has led to the misuse of the country’s natural resources. Environmental problems like climate change, global warming, pollution, deforestation and the extinction of endangered species are very crucial to the lives of humans. The existence and continuous evolution of this cankerworm stem from the fact that the activities of humans leads to the creation of a world that will be very difficult to live in, in some years to come. The constant emission of toxic gases into the atmosphere by some of our practices, the pollution of rivers and oceans, and above all deforestation which leads to the extinction of some endangered species, have dangerous consequences for the human race. These actions are the foundation of constant increase in temperatures, depleting the ozone layer and the Polar Regions vulnerability to defrost. A perfect and conducive environment for Cameroonians and all humans will therefore demand / require strategies that will be geared towards the protection of biodiversity, the preservation of existing endangered species, the sustainable use of land, water and other resources, reducing and cleaning up all sorts of pollution and above all means to develop alternative sources of energy (solar energy employed).
Nurture youths to grow environmental friendly is a project that was first lunched in 2011 and it has experienced growth since then till date with continuous funding from the New England Biolabs Foundation. The project was initiated with its principal aim to nurture youths to grow with the mentality of preserving and protecting the environment. We saw how difficult it was for world leaders in COP15 to come to a consensus to reduce greenhouse gas emission so as to combat climate change. We realized nurturing youths to grow environmentally friendly will facilitate environmental friendly policies in the future. With a global objective to Influence sustainable use of natural and artificial (man-made) resources by spreading good practices in environmental protection and sustainability for socio-economic welfare in Cameroon’s Education system, we engaged the capacity building of primary school heads and volunteers in 2011-12, Representatives from Divisional Delegation of Basic Education and Divisional Delegation of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development in 2014-15 and stepping the empowerment up to the Divisional Delegates of Secondary Education this 2016.
One of the recommendation made at the workshops held in 2014-15 was to extend the training to the secondary education sector since environmental education is not yet in the curriculum. Our work this 2016 is focused on empowering peer educators in the secondary education sector. We targeted 6 Divisional Delegates of secondary Education and an inspector each from the 6 divisions of the South West Region and the same with the 7 divisions of the North West Region in a 2 day training workshop. The first workshop this 2016 to place from the 12th – 13th of February in Limbe and the second workshop from the 18th – 19th February in Bamenda. All delegates were in attendance. The training topics were:
- Key Concepts, Methods and Tools of Environmental Education in schools
- Effects and importance of culture and society in Environmental Education and Management
- Understanding the concept of Biodiversity and conservation of natural resources
- Waste Generation and Management
The environmental manual was reviewed, videos were projected and multiple group work sessions were other activities within the 2 days training time schedule in each region. The Regional Delegates of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development were present in their respective regions for the opening and closing of the event.
