Journal of Global Resources

Volume 2January 2016
Page 182-185
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

24ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS: A NEED OF NATURE
Sunil Kumar Verma
Lecturer in Geography, Govt. Lohia PG College, Churu, (Raj.), India
Email: kurbarasunil@gmail.com
Abstract: As a matter of fact, a clean environment is essential for human being. We live in theenvironment and utilize the environmental resources like air, land and water to meet our needs.
Development also signifies meeting the needs of the people. While meeting the ever-growingneeds, we put pressure on the environment. When the pressure exceeds the carrying capacity ofthe environment to repair or replace itself, it creates a serious problem of environmental
degradation. If we use any environmental resource such as ground water beyond its limit ofreplacement, we may lose it forever. Therefore, there is a need to create ‘awareness’ about
Environmental protection. We use environmental resources in our day to day life. These resources
are renewable and non-renewable. We have to be more cautious in consuming non-renewable
resources like coal and petroleum, which are prone to depletion. All human activities have animpact on environment. The environmental degradation poses a great danger to man's own
survival. It should be realized, sooner than later, that conservation and improvement of theenvironment are vital for the survival, and well being of mankind. Keeping in mind these facts, try todiscuss about environmental awareness in the paper.
Keywords: Pollution, Environment, Greenhouse gas, Media, Environmental awareness.
Identified Environmental Problem
We notice that there are number of problems identified which affect the environment and make it
unhealthy. Land, water, air etc are major area of it. Pollution of land and water has affected plants,animals and human beings. The quality of soil is deteriorating resulting in the loss of agriculturalland. The loss is estimated to be about five to seven million hectares of land each year. Soilerosion, as a result of wind and/or water, costs the world dearly. The recurring floods have theirown peculiar casualties like deforestation, silt in the river bed, inadequate and improper drainage,loss of men and property. The vast oceans, after being turned in to dumping grounds for all nuclear
wastes, have poisoned and polluted the whole natural environment. Urbanization is also one of thesources of pollution. Urbanization means maddening race of people from villages to the cities. The
net result of urbanization is dirt, disease and disasters. In a state of growing urbanization,environmental problem like sanitation, ill-health, housing, water-supply and electricity keepexpanding. On the other, the environmental degradation is caused in the rural life due toindiscriminate collection of firewood, overgrazing and depletion of other natural resources. The
Population growth means more people to eat and breathe, and putting an excessive pressure onland and forest, and ultimately disturbing the ecological balance. Our growing population is puttingpressure on land, leading to poor quality of productivity, deforestation, the loss of forest land sonecessary for ecological balance and extinction of wild life leading to imbalance in the ecologicalorder, loss of wild life heritage and ultimately dwindling of several species. The growing population
is not only a problem for the natural environment; it is a problem for any other aspect ofenvironment, say, for example social, economic, political etc.
Efforts for Environmental Awareness
Environmental awareness has become an issue at International level and all major organizationand countries are working on that. In India, the environmental awareness gained importance since
1970s after the UN sponsored conference on environment in Stockholm (1972). Indian government
took many environment friendly activities. Ministry of environment and forest was established andlaws were enacted on environment protection in 1986.

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For 25-30 years environment has attracted the attention of decision makers, scientists andeven laymen in many parts of the world. They are becoming increasingly conscious of issues suchas famines, droughts, floods, scarcity of fuel, firewood and fodder, pollution of air and water,
problems of hazardous chemicals and radiation, depletion of natural resources, extinction of wildlife
and dangers to flora and fauna. People are now aware of the need to protect the naturalenvironmental resources of air, water, soil and plant life that constitute the natural capital on which
man depends. We all have to aware about environment and try to clean it properly. Unlessenvironmental issues are not solved or not taken care of the coming generations may find earth
worth not living. The need of the planet and the needs of the person have become one. There is no
denying the fact that environment has to be protected and conserved so to make future life
possible. Indeed, man's needs are increasing and accordingly the environment is also being
altered, indeed, nature's capacity is too accommodating and too regenerative yet there is a limit tonature's capacity, especially when pressure of exploding population and technology keepmounting. Environmental Brigades, Afforestation Brigades and Ecological task Force have beenorganized by Non-government organizations (NGOs.) India's wild life conservation projects have
met with remarkable success. India has a protected network of 75 national parks and 421 wild life
sanctuaries. The Tiger project has been a great success. India also has an elaborate laws relating
to the prevention of pollution of water, soil and air and a system of environmental audit of mostindustrial projects. While this is voluntary for most countries, India has a mandatory rule in thisregard. India is also engaged in serious and systematic efforts to develop alternative andrenewable sources of energy like solar, wind and wave energy which are environment friendly.
Emphasis is laid on solar energy on which some significant technological progress has been made.
India is taking all these measures partially with international assistance.
Environmental Awareness through Education
All the countries are facing serious environmental problems. While some of the problems might bealike due to their global nature, others are specifically local ones. Action can be taken in a varietyof areas to increase environmental awareness and education. Some of these categories are:environmental legal rights and responsibilities and associated consequences, use of the media,
awareness raising campaigns, incorporation of environmental issues in mainstream education,
increasing awareness and education in target groups and encouragement of public participation inenvironmental matters. As the following case studies illustrate, many sectors of society areinvolved in developing and delivering educational courses and public awareness campaigns.
These include Government institutions at the national, regional, and local levels; domestic andinternational NGOs; primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools; journalists and the media;
celebrities; and other individuals and institutions.
Moreover, educational and awareness efforts can target practically any sector of society.
They can seek to raise public awareness broadly on environmental issues or they may be atargeted campaign or educational effort focused on a specific sector on a specific issue. Fundingfor awareness and education initiatives may come from a variety of sources. Often, it comes fromthe budgets of specific agencies or Ministries; it is uncommon for such initiatives to receive funding
directly from the central budget. Some States have accessed their national Environment Funds toprovide partial funding for environmental awareness and education. Environmental education andawareness raising can include any of the following types of activities:••••

Reorienting current education and awareness programs to include environmental
dimensions
Basic education and awareness programmes
Adult and community education and awareness programmes
Education, training, and awareness programmes for professional, technical, and vocational
personnel.

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A new approach to address environmental issues at school is the Eco-club scheme thataims to bring NGO’s more closely to the school system. It has been introduced in 2001 and up to
now a coverage of 100 high schools chosen by the district administration in each of India’s 559
districts has been realized (a coverage of 100 high schools per district results in a coverage of allhigh schools in 40% of the districts). Further expansion is planned. The most important difference
to normal classes on environment is the project manner Eco-club scheme uses to addressenvironmental issues. These projects that are suggested by the Ministry of Environment andForests tackle a wide range of topics, the schools can choose on their own which campaigns theywant to launch: The projects range from campaigns like "Say no to plastic bags", against the use ofcrackers at Deewali or campaigns promoting the use of natural colors at Holi to efforts in creating agreen and clean surrounding of the school by collecting waste and planting trees and flowers. Inaddition to that, projects on how to save energy and offering information on renewable energies
have been launched. Most of the projects urge the children to deal with environmental issues they
are confronted with in their everyday life and give concrete suggestions how to behave in anenvironmentally friendly way. The idea of the Ministry is that among the younger part of thepopulation awareness of environmental problems is quite high, but this awareness will only result ina environmentally beneficial behavior if the students are told how to react. The campaigns
mentioned above are fostered by special competitions organized by the Ministry of Environment
and Forests, e.g. poster painting, essay writing or debates. The winners receive money prices
additionally to the small annual amount of financial aid (4000 rupees) every Eco-club is granted by
the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The publicity of events like these and the role of children
as multipliers in their families and neighborhoods enhances the effectiveness of Eco-clubs andextends it to groups different from schoolchildren.
Eco-clubs usually meet once or twice per week under the guidance of a teacher. Especiallyconsidering the lack of education of teachers on how to teach environmental issues, it has to beappreciated that Eco-club teachers are not only offered special literature, but also further training in
the form of workshops organized by the Ministry in close cooperation with NGOs. Althoughparticipation in Eco-club activities is voluntary, the number of students involved in Eco-club
activities is usually ranging around 100 to 150 and by this, even exceeds the target figure of theMinistry of Environment & Forests of 50 students per Eco-club. Furthermore, Eco-club teachers
who are selected by the criterion of personal interest in ecological issues by the school’s principal
reported great commitment of students to Eco-club related activities. In addition to the introductionof EVS and Eco-club scheme, the Ministry evaluated all textbooks used in 8th to 10th grade in nine
Indian states to figure out their content of environmental issues. This project sponsored by theWorld Bank aims at rewriting textbooks to enhance the coverage of environmental issues insubjects like languages and social studies.
Environmental Education is a process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts inorder to develop skills and added tools necessary to understand and appreciate the interrelationship among man, his culture and his bio-physical surrounding. It creates an overall
perspective, which acknowledges the fact that natural environment and man-made environment
are interdependent. The perspective should consider the environment in its totality and should be acontinuous lifelong process beginning at the pre-school level and continuing through all stages.
The environmental education should be inter-disciplinary and examine major environmental issues
from local, national and international points of view. It should utilize various educational
approaches to teach and learn about and from the environment with stress on practical activities
and first-hand experience. It is through this process of education that people can be sensitizedabout the environmental issues. NCERT in India has been playing a crucial role in developing thecurriculum of environmental education. It has pointed out that good environmental education at
school stage of education is not transformation of information and knowledge but it is all aboutdeveloping environmental sensitivity and awareness by going out in nature and integrating outdoor
knowledge with classroom environment.

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Environmental Awareness through MediaThe print, broadcast, and Internet media can be a powerful ally in educating the public onenvironmental matters. In order to perform this role effectively, it is often necessary for theGovernment to work with the media. This is often done informally, through regular briefings andinformation centers. Some States have found that educating the media can be quite effective inbuilding capacity to report on environmental matters. The case study from Bulgaria is but one
example of how the Government has worked closely with the mass media to build its
environmental reporting capacity through regular press conferences and large public awarenesscampaigns. Capacity building efforts can provide journalists with basic environmental information
on a specific topic or general environmental information. Information centers that are accessible tothe media and to the public constitute one approach. These centers may be run by a governmental
agency or Ministry or by an NGO. An information centre may disseminate recent information, havea public library with a range of environmental resources, and actively disseminate information.
Conclusion
Awareness campaigns are often most successful when they are targeted at specific groups
because information can be tailored to the activities, needs and challenges of the group.
Additionally, involving organizations and communities in environmental protection and enforcement
can create a sense of stewardship towards the environment, ease hardship through thecollaboration and provide a forum for new ideas and greater participation. Examples of suchcollaboration and stewardship are provided in the initiatives of some NGOs and organizations in
the private sectors in States around the world. They have been active in raising public awarenessof environment development issues and mobilized people to take actions that have contributed topositive changes for the environment.
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