Environment News

In conjunction with the Forest Services, the Scouts Musulmans Algériens, Tlemcen Department, carried out a range of environmental activities during March 2008. More than 300 Scouts from different Scout groups took part in tree planting, cleaning up their local environment and environmental education activities.

The three northern regions of Ghana experienced torrential rainfalls which resulted in flooding of most areas. This brought about collapsing of most buildings, washing away of farmlands and turning the areas into a disaster zone. An S.O.S call was made to Ghanaians to give a helping hand to the people in these areas. Ghana Scout Association, as a voluntary organization heeded to its call and planned a programme dubbed Operation Northern Star.

Since the beginning of the Clean Up the World campaign 15 years ago, Scouts have been actively getting out in their local communities and cleaning up their environment. This has included collecting many bags of litter, conducting educational campaigns, tree planting and other environmental projects. The 3rd weekend in September is celebrated as the Clean Up the World Weekend during which a wide variety of environmental activities are undertaken by millions of volunteers around the globe, though activities are conducted year round, depending on the local needs.

Arranged in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) the Volvo Adventure Award rewards active young people who create their own environmental projects. We are now searching for the 2008 winners – could it be you? All you have to do is register and enter your project by visiting www.volvoadventure.org.

UNEP has launched the 17th International children's painting competition. The Competition is organized annually by the UNEP and the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon Corporation. It has been held since 1991 and has received over 190,000 entries from children in over 100 countries.
This year’s Competition will focus on Climate Change: Actions we can take now.

Scouts from many countries joined other young environmental leaders of the world at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) International Youth Conference in Leverkusen, Germany from the 27th to 30th August. The participants had the opportunity to share their projects with 150 young people aged between 15 - 24 from 100 countries, showcasing a great variety of projects being lead by young people to tackle the world's environmental challenges.

Scouts' tree planting efforts and commitment to caring for the environment has featured in the latest edition of the United Nations Environment Programme's Tunza Magazine for children and youth. The theme for this edition is 'Connecting with Nature' and the Scout article focuses on the millions of trees planted by Scouts in projects around the world.

South Africa – The Greening the Future initiative is impressed by South Africa Scouts Association(SASA)'s project on climate change. SASA's programme aims to encourage the youth to become « change agents for climate change education and action ».