AkoSiWanshishi

DEAR MR TREE....
I am a friend of yours fromOur Lady of Mount CarmelMontessori. As I waswalking, I noticed some ofthe pine trees. They wereburned and cut by some badpeople. I felt so sorrybecause you give us oxygento breathe, prevent floodsand also give us food,medicine and shelter. Thenwhy do some people cuttrees? Probably they want toget rich and forget about thefuture of little children likeme. I am very sorry becausesome people burn you andcut you. I know you couldgive us more if only we willtake care of you. I pray toGod to bless us all, especiallyour Nature.Your friend,Kathrina, Grade 6

A FOREST FOR THE CHILDREN

ECO-Walk Environmental Awareness Program For Children(Baguio, Philippines)

Six hours from Manila, a unique governanceproject is demonstrating how the localcommunity, church, business, schools andgovernment are working together towardthe common goal of saving a forest for theirchildren. Despite efforts by government toaddress this problem over the years, it isonly through the power of partnership,galvinized by children, that the problem isbeing effectively addressed.

CONTEXT
Watersheds serving Baguio City have dried up due to intensive illegallogging, heavy in-migration and the unauthorized conversion of forest landfor small farming and squatting. The forest cover of Busol watershed, thesecond largest supplier of water to Baguio City, has declined from 80percent in the 1960s to 20 percent today.In 1993, the Eco-Walk was born. A unique program for children, the ideawas to preserve and renew the forest cover of Busol watershed through anenvironmental awareness program. The program was designed tocomplement classroom discussion on environmental concepts by providingchildren an outdoor arena where they could connect concepts with real-lifesituations.

THE PLAYERS
The members of a local media group, who had grown up in the forests, initiated the Eco-Walk. The Eco-Walk isled by the Baguio Regreening Movement (BRM), an organization composed of government agencies, NGOs andbusiness entities. The Chair of the BRM is Reverend Bishop Ernesto Salgado, an influential personality in thispredominantly Catholic region. The charismatic mayor, Honorable Mauricio Domogan, plays a vital role in theBRM activities, as does the Department of Environment and Natural Resources

THE PROCESS
The BRM adopted the devastated Busol watershed as the site of the value-formation program. Here thechildren explore, plant and tend their own seedlings under the guidance of volunteers and forestry officials.This experiential learning process allows children to appreciate the value of the forest in their lives and becomeaware of indigenous practices of forest management. To date, the children have planted over 12,200 seedlings,with a survival rate of 97 percent.Between 1996 and March 1999, over 11,000 children, government employees, high school and college students,socio-civic groups, youth clubs and business organizations have participated in the Eco-Walk, bringingenvironmental awareness to a wide cross-section of society.

IMPACT
Through the Eco-Walk, the children are rehabilitating the forest they will inherit one day. They influence familymembers by talking about the forest and asking for reassurance that their trees will grow to maturity.The project has produced videos, newsletters and manuals forvolunteer guides. Its weekly TV program, “Eco-Walk on the Air”, reachesa wider segment of the community with environmental issues andconcerns. A journalism workshop for children in Grades 4 and 5 trainsthem in print and broadcast journalism skills, with the expectation thatthey will eventually take over the TV show, radio program andnewsletter. Perhaps the mostsignificant result of the projecthas been the production of 17teaching modules based on theEco-Walk, which are now beingpilot tested in the publicschools of Baguio. Themodules will be included in theGrade 5 and 6 curricula.Although government laws andenforcement techniques wereunable to stop illegal loggingin the past, combining theforces of government, businessand civil society rallying around the children has produced valuableresults. Illegal logging and tree poaching has fallen dramatically in thewatershed since the children started to visit the forest regularly, asillegal loggers became embarrassed to be seen cutting tress whenchildren were planting them.

INSIGHT:

I can say that this project is a great idea. People behind this project are so kind hearted and very concern to the future of the youth today. I am glad that there are people who wants to secure the future of the children today. They wanted to secure the resources that will be very important in surviving of the children today.
It is also nice that these little angels, the children, are voluntary and very excited about this project. The children were the one who is very eager to make this project happen. At this very age, they are aware of what might happen in their future and they are helping the elders to provide right number of resources, although not all people are supportive with this project.. But atleast some are willing to listen to the stories of the children that had been relayed to one person to another. With this simple relaying of the message this movement received some sponsorships and members and volunteers who wants to plant trees for the childrens future.

Children today knows the benefit of this act. And they also know that they plant trees inexchange to the trees that had been cut down by the illegal loggers.

I chose this topic so that I can help them reach the other people that doesnt know that a movement or a program like this exist. And for the other people that might want to help this program, you are very welcome to be a part of this reconstruction of our environment.

Thank you for the people who educate our young innocent children about whats happening to our environment.