Dubai: I was lucky to be a part of an inspirational change-making journey in the Republic of Suriname, South America, by youth members from Green Hope. The objective was to spread awareness about Suriname’s unique position as the only country in the world with 93 per cent forest cover, as stated by the World Bank, and the important role of the country’s children and youth in taking care of their environment.
A Green Hope team, comprising of members from Dubai, Oman and Canada were invited by the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Suriname. Our mission was to create awareness amongst the local youth and to educate and empower them so they could protect their natural heritage for future generations.
After months of preparation and coordination, the Green Hope team flew to Paramaribo, Suriname’s picturesque capital city, on July 3. Over the next 12 days, the team reached out to thousands of civil society stakeholders in Suriname.
We conducted an impactful event titled, “Youth Awareness Conference for a Sustainable Suriname”, which was attended by over 350 youth, 15 to 18 years old, from schools across the country. Over the next two days, we conducted two more “Environment Academies”, each of which were attended by over 300 children in the age group of eight to 15 years. We believed in using creative modes of communication to convey the themes of sustainable development.
Sustainability is a difficult concept for children to understand and therefore Green Hope used art, music, dance, drama and sport to engage and educate young children creatively. Participants expressed their solutions and ideas for implementing the United Nation’s (UN) 17 sustainable development goals for their country. The outputs were amazing and showed the importance of harnessing the passion and creativity of young people in driving change.
The team also visited an orphanage, home to mainly girls, some as young as five years. The team conducted an environmental workshop for them, spreading awareness about the impacts of climate change and adopting sustainable lifestyles. The enthusiasm of the children was truly heartening and they pledged to stop using plastic and keep their surroundings clean and recycle waste.
We also travelled into the Amazon rainforest and engaged with children of the local tribes, educating them about the importance of not taking their forests for granted and to adopt simple sustainable concepts of recycling, waste reduction, tree planting and avoiding plastic usage. Before we left, we also planted moringa and neem trees.
Suriname has a vast mangrove ecosystem, which too is affected by the impacts of climate change and urban pollution and our team spent a day at the mangrove rehabilitation project centre. We planted scores of mangrove plants as a part of the conservation process. Our team also conducted a beach cleanup in Braamspunt, located on the east bank of the mouth of the Suriname River, and thereafter engaged with local conservation experts working on sea turtle conservation.
Emile Timothy, one of the team members, said: “The beautiful rainforests and exotic species add a mystique to the country that is both fascinating and breathtaking. Every moment spent was extremely productive. Apart from the workshops that we conducted, our field excursions were really impactful as we planted trees, mangrove saplings and released baby turtles.”
Erin Isabel, another member of Green Hope, said: “Engaging with the youth of Suriname and learning more about their flora and fauna made the trip meaningful.”
Green Hope believes that engaging neglected and marginalised sections of civil society holds the key to the realisation of the UN’s mandate of “leave no one behind” and focuses its efforts to reaching out and empowering them.
Climate change is the harshest reality of our times and it is regrettable that some people still shrug it off as a myth. This visit to Suriname was an eye-opener on how a small nation was combining economic progress with natural conservation efforts to protect its forest cover.
— The reader is the youth ambassador for the World Future Council and is based in Dubai.
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