August 3, 2007
Featured on: Cameroon Tribune
Cameroon: Environmental Commitment, a Call for All
Every child and adult should plant a certain number of trees as contribution to the campaign on the planting of 1 billion trees.
This was one of the major resolutions arrived at during the five-day TUNZA-UNEP African Regional Children' Conference on the Environment that ended in Yaounde yesterday. The theme of the conference was "Practice what you preach". The conference which was the first of its kind in Africa was organised by the Ministry of the Environment and Nature Protection and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The conference brought together brought together children from the ages of 9 to 14 from 35 African countries and Norway. The objectives of the conference was to create a platform to permit children acquire knowledge on the environment, exchange their experiences and preoccupations on the environment, reinforce their capacities on sustainable development and create friendship with other people who share their commitment in protecting the environment.
Another important resolution was to encourage all the participants to play a primordial role in the creation or animation of environmental clubs in their different schools, among others. The first edition of the regional children's conference prepared and built the capacities of children towards the World Children's Summit on Environment which will take place in Norway in June 2008. For five days, the participants listened to presentations on topics such as climate change and food security, forest and biodiversity, water, sanitation and treatment of waste as well as dry lands and deserts. Opening the conference, the Secretary General at the Prime Ministers office, Jules Doret Ndongo, underscored the enormous importance government attaches in protecting the environment. He said conference is welcome as it will help children know how to protect the ecosystem through their activities.
According to the Representative of UNEP, Dr Strike Mkandla, the theme for this year is important not just for children but for all. She said important adjustments must be made in the lifestyles of everybody towards environmental protection. Dr Mkandla hailed the choice of Cameroon to host the conference as Cameroon still preserves its rich forest and biodiversity. Concerning forest and biodiversity, a tree planting exercise was organised last Wednesday. The children planted 5,000 trees along the Mont Febe road in Yaounde.
Source: Cameroon Tribune, Elizabeth Mosima
The conference brought together brought together children from the ages of 9 to 14 from 35 African countries and Norway. The objectives of the conference was to create a platform to permit children acquire knowledge on the environment, exchange their experiences and preoccupations on the environment, reinforce their capacities on sustainable development and create friendship with other people who share their commitment in protecting the environment.
Another important resolution was to encourage all the participants to play a primordial role in the creation or animation of environmental clubs in their different schools, among others. The first edition of the regional children's conference prepared and built the capacities of children towards the World Children's Summit on Environment which will take place in Norway in June 2008. For five days, the participants listened to presentations on topics such as climate change and food security, forest and biodiversity, water, sanitation and treatment of waste as well as dry lands and deserts. Opening the conference, the Secretary General at the Prime Ministers office, Jules Doret Ndongo, underscored the enormous importance government attaches in protecting the environment. He said conference is welcome as it will help children know how to protect the ecosystem through their activities.
According to the Representative of UNEP, Dr Strike Mkandla, the theme for this year is important not just for children but for all. She said important adjustments must be made in the lifestyles of everybody towards environmental protection. Dr Mkandla hailed the choice of Cameroon to host the conference as Cameroon still preserves its rich forest and biodiversity. Concerning forest and biodiversity, a tree planting exercise was organised last Wednesday. The children planted 5,000 trees along the Mont Febe road in Yaounde.
Source: Cameroon Tribune, Elizabeth Mosima