Focusing on ecological awareness

By A. Ariobimo Nusantara

TOKYO (JP): The late founder of the World Wildlife Fund, Sir Peter Scott once said: "Nothing is more important than teaching the next generation of people about the value of the natural world around us -- a world that is so gravely threatened by human ignorance and apathy".

Droughts, floods, forest fires, acid rain and holes in the ozone layer are dreadful examples of natural phenomena. It is, therefore, not surprising that there are social groups throughout the world that are promoting environmental conservation.

The international convention on climate change held in Kyoto, Japan, early this month discussed efforts to limit fossil fuel emissions that would be the main cause for a possible warming of the Earth's climate -- termed the "greenhouse effect". If all countries implement the convention's action plan faithfully, the future fate of the earth looks brighter.

Although the Kyoto convention was comprehensively covered by the international press, few realized that three weeks before the convention a meeting was held in Tokyo with a similar environmental mission. The Tokyo meeting focussed on the sun's effects on humanity and was attended by representatives from 22 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The difference between the two conferences was that the Kyoto convention was attended by government officials who had the political authority to reduce fossil fuel emissions, while the Tokyo delegates were publishers of children's books for ages nine to 14. The two meetings took different approaches to similar topics.

The Tokyo meeting was organized by the Asia-Pacific Cultural Center of Unesco (ACCU), a Tokyo-based non-profit organization established in 1971 to promote cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. ACCU sponsors cultural programs, book development and campaigns to raise reading interest.

The secretariat of the ACCU is based in Tokyo because 80 percent of its expenditures are financed by the Japanese government with the balance originating from other Unesco members and various groups.

The meeting, held between Nov. 17 and Nov. 22, was part of ACCU's Asia-Pacific Copublication Program (ACP) and discussed the publication of books educating children on ecology.

The ACP, which provides high quality books to children in the Asia-Pacific region, has thus far produced 26 books which have been translated into 36 languages in 26 countries (in the Asia- Pacific and Europe), with a total of 3.9 million copies.

The ACP's working procedure generally starts with a meeting to plan cooperation, followed by the production of master copies, whose materials are prepared by representatives of the ACCU member countries.

This year's topic, concerning the sun, will be the third of the ecology series. The previous two topics discussed trees and water. These previous publications, according to Unesco, were successful in several countries, with repeated printing in some countries. Unfortunately, this series has not been popular in Indonesia even though the book on trees has been translated into Indonesian.

Even though the 22 member countries participate in ACP meetings, not all of them are involved in an editorial committee assigned to formulate the concept of the book to be published.

This year's editorial committee, for example, comprises only representatives from Indonesia, Laos, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, plus technical consultant Chie Fujita, a Japanese writer and translator of science books for children.

It is not an easy task for the committee to select from material with different cultural backgrounds. Political friction, therefore, is sometimes inevitable.

Moreover, most of the material is based on folklore and folktales on the sun, while the amount of material on the utilization of solar energy and the usefulness or the danger of the sun is very limited. That, unfortunately, indicates that the awareness of the need to educate children on the environment is still low.

According to the approved agenda, information relating to solar energy should become the most important portion of the planned book. The goal of the book is to raise children's interest in science and to show them the relationship between the sun and their life as well as animals, trees and water. Cultural subjects are also to be taught concerning the sun and its role in different societies.

"It is actually not difficult to produce a scientific article on the sun because there are many sources for it," said Fujita. "But it is difficult to make children in the Asia-Pacific understand technology on the utilization of solar energy if there is no information from their countries."

To overcome such a gap, committee chairman Virgilio Almario proposed the combination of folklore and scientific articles.

The flow of the story should be smooth so that children would want to read it without realizing it was for their education, said Almario, who is the Children's Communication Center executive director and a professor at the University of the Philippines.

Almario explained that such a presentation would enrich children with cultural knowledge while providing them with simple information about the sun and its usefulness.

In its dedication to society, the ACCU is aiming to prepare future generations to overcome environmental problems both individually and in groups.

This concept of regional cooperation, however, is still abstract because it does not produce concrete actions, while its suggestions are not obligatory. The success of its projects, therefore, will be seen after one or two decades, when members of the younger generation take over important positions in their respective countries.

That means that the organization's mission would be successful if its programs produce individuals with awareness on the preservation of the nature, not individuals who look for scapegoats whenever there is a natural disaster -- as shown by their predecessors.

The writer is a member of the Asia-Pacific Copublication Program's editorial board for the ecology book titled Sun.