Cuba Urges Environmental Education

[Mika]

Source: Prensa Latina

Havana, Oct 11 (Prensa Latina) Cuba has called to increase the number of Latin American countries in the Global Environmental Citizenship Project to promote environmental education on the continent.

The proposal was made by Jose A. Diaz Duque, chairman of the Cuban Congress Education, Culture, Technology, and Environment Committee, during a closed meeting at Havana Hotel National, sponsored by the UN Environment Program and its regional office, according to the National Information Agency (AIN).

He indicated the plan is being successfully implemented in several Cuban locales, and offered the Cuban experience. The meeting, also in coordination with the Latin American Parliament, was attended by deputies from such regional countries as Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

In its 2006 Living Planet Report, the World Wide Fund for Nature concluded that Cuba is the only country in the world making steps toward sustainable development.

Working link --> here.

Read more: DU's software butchers Prensa Latina links

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"In its 2006 Living Planet Report, the World Wide Fund for Nature concluded that Cuba is the only country in the world making steps toward sustainable development."


Those damned socialists ruining a good thing! <-- :sarcasm:


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[Judi Lynn]

1. Great news! They've been given other environment awards in recent years, also.

If I have time I'll take a look later for more on the subject. Have read they've done things to plant a LOT of trees, convert to solar power, change refrigeration, etc.

By the way, do you recall the story of the little boy who was given an award, but denied the prize, which was a Nikon camera, due to the U.S. embargo?

Here's one account. This story got picked up by many different organizations:

The 13-year-old Cuban boy Raysel Sosa Rojas won a United Nations
award but could never receive its prize because it had US components.

Surrounded by his grandmother —his mother was at work— other
relatives and friends, Raysel answered questions from this Granma
reporter on the balcony of his apartment in the Havana district of
San Agustin.

Raysel spoke about the love he feels for painting, the international
award he won, and the camera he never received because it had US
components, forbidden under the US government’s blockade on Cuba.
While, in his presence, other prize-winning children from Europe,
Africa, Asia and Latin America received their cameras. He did not.

How did you hear that you had won the prize?

One day I was sleeping there (he points to his bedroom) and early in
the morning the phone rang. My mother was already leaving for work,
and as we never get calls that early she was surprised. It was my
teacher who was calling to tell us the news, that I had received the
award for Latin America and the Caribbean, from the International
Children’s Contest sponsored by the United Nations Environment
Program.

Where was the awarding ceremony?

In Algeria. There were children from Yugoslavia, Thailand, and
Ecuador. There was also another from Africa, one from Japan and I.

And the award?

It was a Nikon camera. It was not given to me. I was told that since
I am Cuban I could not receive it.
(snip/...)

http://www.cubavsbloqueo.cu/Default.aspx?tabid=1403



Raysel Sosa Rojas

UN press release:

~snip~
The 2006 Global Winner of the UNEP International Children’s Painting Competition is 9-year-old Lau Tsun Ming from China. Speaking about his painting, Ming said: "My picture shows two contrasting scenes of Earth. One is desertified and the other can keep its natural beauty. If people continue to ruin the environment, our surroundings will become dull and nasty."

Three second prizes were awarded to: Daniela Borislavova Karaivanova (12) from Bulgaria, who depicted happy children and animals in a rich and fertile arid landscape; 14-year-old Marchela Ivo Delcheva, also from Bulgaria, whose painting features a hand cupping water and life in front of a backdrop of a degraded dryland; and Biaoyunke Zhang (11) from China, who evokes the delicate balance of desert ecosystems with a picture of an hourglass, supported by children from around the world.

The regional winners were: Africa: Naylee Nimesh Nagda (9) from Kenya; Asia and the Pacific: Silarat Choiechuen (11) from Thailand; Europe: ten-year-old Lukin Licina (Serbia); Raysel Sosa (12) from Cuba; Latin America and the Caribbean: 13-year-old Jonathan Zhang from the United States; and for the West Asian region, 14 year-old Shayam Kousik from Qatar .
(snip/...)

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=480&ArticleID=5287&l=en

You may recall there was a tremendous response of messages of support from everywhere to this child. I believe the Cuban government may have given him a similar camera as a replacement.

[Mika]

3. Yes. Fidel ORDERED that the youngster get a good camera.

The bastard. <--- :sarcasm:

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Fuck Nikon!

[Judi Lynn]

2. Found a reference at a UNESCO site:

~snip~
WWF’s initials and famous Panda logo have become a powerful rallying point for those supporting the Organization’s mission of seeking to stop the degradation of the world’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world’s biological diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

In terms of links between WWF and UNESCO, WWF has provided significant technical and financial support into the development of individual biosphere reserves and World Heritage sites. For example, in Cuba, environmental education and nature interpretation programmes in Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve have been supported through links with WWF-Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency. In southern Italy, WWF-Italy has played a seminal role in the process leading to the designation of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano Biosphere Reserve and to the development of rural development projects, such as the revival and upgrading of olive oil production, through a WWF-initiative on Conservation and Development in Sparsely Populated Areas (CADISPA).
(snip)

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=22263&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html

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A different environmental award, for wetland preservation:

Lourdes Mugica Valdes
2001
Cuba

2001 Runner-up
2002 Whitley Award Winner (Birdlife), sponsored by the Studs Trust
2005 Continuation Funding recipient

e: [e-mail]

Waterbird Ecology, Capacity Building and Environmental Education - The Cuban Wetlands Project

In a world where wetland habitat for birds is becoming rarer and those that remain are prone to destruction, a new possibility for habitats is emerging: rice paddies. Rice is a major crop throughout the world, but especially in developing countries where 95% of the world's rice crop is produced. Where wildlife is not persecuted, these rice paddies can also serve the dual purpose of providing important havens for biodiversity where natural wetlands are in decline.

Lourdes Mugica Valdés is Auxiliar Professor at the University of Havana's faculty of Biology in Cuba. She has taught there since 1982, involved in both formal ecology courses and in the faculty's research and environmental education programs. She is part of Havana University's Bird Ecology group, which is widely recognized for its contribution to our knowledge of Cuban waterbird ecology. She is moreover a world leader in the study of rice paddies as an important habitat to aquatic bird species.

Lourdes is devoting her life to saving wetlands in Cuba. The biggest island in the Caribbean, Cuba is in the middle of waterbird migration corridors, including the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways, and is also host to some of the last significant populations of a number of Caribbean bird species, such as the West Indian whistling duck. Of great interest to Lourdes is the fact that rice is also the second most important crop after sugar cane in Cuba.
(snip/...)

http://www.whitleyaward.org/display.php?id=47