Africa-Press – Botswana. Education on environment conservation should be introduced to children so that environmental principles are instilled at an early age.
Khoemacau Environment and Community manager Mr Johny Marudu said when giving a keynote address at the Association of Environmental Clubs Botswana (AECB) workshop in Maun on Saturday.
Mr Marudu said there was no better way to mitigate risks subjected on the environment than educating and disseminating information to the public especially children so that they grasped it early.
He said environmental capacity building was critical in everyone’s daily life so that no person took the environment for granted.
Mr Marudu said global challenges like climate change and other human activities like agriculture and migration resulted in environment degradation which could eventually eliminate humanity.
‘’It is important to protect our natural resources and the environment we live in and advocate for a well-informed society that conserves the environment at all times,” he said.
He said there was need for environment stewardship to be advanced in all entities whether government or private schools and homes.
Further, he said an association such as the AECB was paramount to help Botswana sustain status of being a country that conserved the environment and wildlife and subscribed to global treaties.
In his remarks, the AECB individual wing chairperson Mr Kutlwano Kennetseng said the association volunteered in helping schools establish environmental education clubs, community education to address environmental issues.
He said the association mostly operated with clubs in schools because every school has environmental clubs which needed reinforcement and support.
The association, he said, faced challenges due to COVID-19 outbreak which included stunted growth of membership hence the move to revive and grow their enrolment.
Mr Kennetseng indicated that the aim of the workshop was to impart leadership skills on their members to bring desired results that would be delivered to all members across the country.
He encouraged members to be custodians of environmental conservation in their respective regions to ensure the environment was conserved for generations to come.
North West District Council environmental health officer, Ms Keatlaretse Moyo highlighted that there was a lot of potential in recycling especially with the prohibition of plastic use.
She said there was an opportunity for paper bag manufacturing in Ngamiland made from reeds (lotlhaka) that were abundant in rivers.
Ms Moyo said there were recycling companies contracted by council who collected boxes and tins at landfills and sold them in South Africa hence noted that conservation clubs could explore that opportunity and negotiate with councils to recycle for them and raise funds.
Moreover, she stated that associations could also propose ideas to established companies like Coca Cola to be one their waste collectors and resell for a fee.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
