Climate Change mitigation campaigns should be introduced in the education curriculum to ensure involvement of school children in nurturing the environment through initiation of tree nurseries’ among other conservation activities at early childhood education stages.
Children remain perhaps the main pillars of future climate change mitigation soldiers and hence should be made aware of how to manage basics such as trees, water, and the air among other environmental elements at an early stage
Environmentalists in Embu County warned that the present discussions and assimilation in tackling of climate change issues in high level local and international forums should not left out those in the rural areas and learners at all levels generally.
The stakeholders expressed fears that the present involvement of adults only in the issues environment protection and climate change mitigation meetings and campaigns would fail to entrench the love for clean ecosystems among learners from early childhood education and above.
Led by a community climate change volunteer in Mbeere South Nicholas Njeru, the stakeholders suggested that teachers in all institutions should create opportunities inside the schools, classroom and outside to encourage learners to take care of the environment.
While welcoming the launch of climate change mitigation community volunteer groups in Embu County, Njeru said teachers too needed to be included in the groups because of their day to day interaction with children in their schools.
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Managements of schools, the climate change volunteers said should be funded by the government and the private firms to launch learners managed small tree nurseries at the institutional level and at home and participate in planting the seedlings once transferred from nurseries.
Teachers, the environmentalists suggested that should unite with parents and guardians to entrench the love for tree planting with children being encouraged to adopt a number of trees at school and at home and take full care for the same until maturity.
Njeru suggested that climate change mitigation skills be simplified to the children and the rural folk who, he claimed today appeared to remain observers as the government, non-governmental organisations, academicians among others dominated campaigns.
Transfer of the huge amounts of money being spent to sponsor climate change seminars and workshops in high level urban centres and hotels, Njeru said could have played a major role in supporting tree planting of trees by learners across the entire country.
He raised concern that large chunks of land belonging to schools and the community sometimes close to schools continue to remain empty yet these should have been turned to attractive environmental friendly climate change mitigation man made forests.
Adoption of tree by children at schools, the climate change mitigation volunteer said would mean future ecosystems could enjoy protection reducing the now unhealthy effects brought about by climate change.
The water from the floods especially near the schools, he said should not be left to go to waste but should be preserved and utilised to grow seedlings and food crops by pupils and students under the guidance of teachers and parents.
By Robert Nyagah
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