Plan for eco education centre

The UAE's leading environment agency will team up with India's premier national environment institute, the Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environment Education (CEE), to set up an environment education centre in the capital by next year.

Professor Ahmed K. Bashir, Director of the Environmental Education and Awareness Division at the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA), told Gulf News: "We are planning to set up an environmental education centre in the capital in partnership with the CEE.

"The agency identified the centre in India due to its experience and reputation in the field of developing good environmental education programmes and activities."

As a step towards this partnership, Kartikeya V. Sarabhai, the founder director of the CEE, on a one day visit to the UAE, yesterday discussed the details of the area and the target audience to be covered by the new environmental education centre, with the ERWDA officials.

Later in the day, Kartikeya Sarabhai delivered a lecture on "India's efforts towards the United Nation's World Summit on Sustainable Development" (WSSD), in Johannesburg, to a gathering of the Indian business and professional group, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Hotel.

The prominent environmentalist, who will be one of the delegates representing India at the WSSD, highlighted his country's approach and expectations from the summit.

He said: "Most countries including India are going to the summit without much hope. The euphoria and positivism experienced in the aftermath of the Rio Summit in 1992 , the Kyoto Protocol, bio-diversity conferences, just does not exist today."

Most countries were downright sceptical and hoped they could at least hold on to the promises made earlier, he added wryly.

Spelling out India's main expectations at the summit, Sarabhai said India does not want the Agenda 21 and the Rio declaration to be re-negotiated, but to develop a better mechanism to transfer financial resources to developing nations promised at the Rio Summit – not to be bogged down by sectoral themes, but to be action-oriented and encourage thrust on governance.

"Nobody is expecting miracles to happen at the summit, but while introspecting on what we have achieved in the past 10 years we realise there's a lot India can do at home by putting their own house in order and sharing their experiences with others," pointed out Sarabhai, a one time recipient of the Tree of Learning Award from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

In view of the large-scale skepticism towards the WSSD, India is going to the summit to present what it has achieved in the last 10 years and what it can share with the world.

India has indeed made strides in the field of environment conservation, he claimed, citing the instance of how the Ministry of Environment now has placed forthcoming legislations on the Internet to get public opinion before enacting on them.

India can also share with the world its experience of the fruitful exchange between the government and the NGOs to involve people at the grass roots level, using the public interest litigation as an effective tool, recognising traditional practices in conserving protected areas like sacred groves, not emulating the mistakes of the developed nations, and 'greening' formal education in India.

Sarabhai also pointed out how democratic debates and a free press has also helped in saving the environment in India as in the case of a sanctuary which was prevented from being taken over by a cement factory due to the concerted reports in the press.

To a question on his opinion about the environment conservation efforts in this part of the world, Sarabhai said since the standard of living is very different from India it will be difficult for a child here to become easily aware of the problems such as the need for water conservation.

How do you make a child begin to understand that the common problems of the environment is a challenge this country faces? he asked.

But they do seem to have the heart and the structures are in place, Sarabhai concluded.