Students charged to lead campaign on the environment

Sekondi, Nov. 15, GNA - An educationist, Mr Anthony Rhule of the Shama-Ahanta East Metropolitan Education Office, has called for the launching of a mass and vigorous campaign to sensitise the general populace on the harm being caused to the environment and the dangers that lies ahead.

He made the call when speaking at a one-day seminar on the environment, organised for students drawn from second cycle institutions in Sekondi-Takoradi at the weekend by the Wildlife Society of Ghana. The seminar has as its theme, "National Biodiversity Conservation and Our Survival-The Role of Schools".

Mr Rhule noted that the importance of the environment to the survival of mankind has not been recognised as a result of ignorance or greed. He said mankind's activities have been detrimental to the environment, due to indiscriminate tree felling, poor disposal of industrial waste, inappropriate use of agro-chemicals, bad farming systems and many more. Mr Rhule pointed out that by the virtue of their education, children were better placed to understand the issues involved and should therefore be involved and lead in the implementation of such an intensive campaign on the environment.

"Your active involvement in clean-ups, tree planting exercises and your very conduct can go a long way to changing attitudes of others towards the environment", he said.

He stressed that this calls for the use of improved farming methods such as conservation agriculture; organic farming and many others could be implemented, since the students were been equipped to practise them through education.

Mr Rhule also said as students, they were required to be at breast with issues of bio-technology, an area that he said holds the key to the solution of problems of biodiversity to enable them explain to their less fortune colleagues.

He also charged students to play a watchdog role and to report breakers of laws on the environment to the appropriate authorities for the necessary action to be taken.

Mr Yaw Manu Addae, Regional Manager of the Forest Services Division, also addressed the seminar.