THE TEAM CELEBRATED ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY ON JUNE 5, WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
Contacts:Tsering Yangkey, Thinley Norbu, Ugyen Tsephel
Mobile: 94187-91168 Phone: 0091-1892-226085
The Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM) commemorated its first anniversary on June 5, 2006, World Environment Day, with the students of the Tibetan Children's Village School in Suja. We organised various environmental activities for the school children to mark the twin event. These included an essay and drawing competition and the screening of the film, "Kekexili: The Mountain Patrol", which is based on the real-life adventures of the now-disbanded Wild Yak Brigade of Tibet.
The topics for the essay and drawing contest were 'Environmental Degradation and Our Responsibilities' and 'Human Beings and their Environment' respectively. More than 100 students took part in the competition. Monetary prizes and Certificates of Excellence were awarded to the winning essays and drawings.
In the evening, about 500 students attended the screening of the film. Before the screening, Ugyen Tsephel, the TEAM's Research Officer, explained how World Environment Day came into being before introducing the film, the background of which is not clearly portrayed in the film itself. Thinley Norbu, the TEAM's Programme Director, spoke on the issue of environmental degradation and the urgent need for environmental activism in the Tibetan community.
The chief guest at the function, the venerable Tseten Wangchuk, Tibetan language and Buddhism teacher at the school, released our TEAM's two new books in Tibetan: Pesticides are Poison and A Basic Introduction to Environment and Environmental Issues. We also distributed brochures on: Do Not Burn Plastics, Energy Saving Tips, Say No to Styrofoam Cups, Water Saving Tips, His Holiness on Biodiversity Conservation, Say No to Endangered Species Products, Save Elephants: Stop Using Ivory Prayer Beads, Ridak Kyolu and My Pledge for a Better Earth.
WHAT THE TEAM DID IN ITS FIRST YEAR:
During the first year of its existence, our TEAM brought out several publications, namely Environmental Toolkit, A Basic Understanding of the Impacts of Fertilisers and Pesticides, a Tibetan translation of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). We also produced several posters on subjects such as 'Waste Management', 'Protect the Endangered Species' and `Impacts of Efficient But Ineffective Waste Management' during the Kalachakra 2006 held in January at Amaravati in Andra Pradesh. Soon, the TEAM will also bring out a Tibetan translation of Citizen's Guide to the World Commission on Dams.
We also conducted several workshops, leadership training sessions, essay contests and funded seven environmental projects in various schools and colleges in India. We successfully led a major environmental campaign during the Kalachakra in Amaravati and the Monlam Chenmo at Dharamsala. It was very well received by both visiting and local Tibetans and the resident Indian populace .
During this year, we chose to focus its energies on campaigning against the use of products made from endangered animlas by the Tibetan people. When we launched the campaign, we thought our hardest job would be to change the Tibetans¡¦ perception of endangered species. However, our campaign gained momentum after His Holiness the Dalai Lama urged the Tibetan people to stop such consumption during his teachings at the Kalachakra, explaining exactly why they should shun endangered animal products. Since then, there has been a remarkable change in the mindset of a large number of Tibetans inside Tibet in this regard. Many of them actually brought out their old pelts and burned them in public. These pelts were collectively valued at over US$ one million.
Despite this very pleasant development, our TEAM believes that there is no room for complacency. We need to press on with the campaign.
THE TEAM'S FUTURE PROJECTS
We would like to share with you the four major projects we have chalked out for the immediate future.
a) To inspire monks and nuns to realize their ecological roots and mobilize them to expedite conservation and environmental education work through ¡¥Monastery Environmental Club'.
b) To promote environmental awareness in school children by providing activity-based educational materials to teachers and providing support to young environmental leaders in creation and sustenance of environmental clubs.
c) To encourage organic farming by conducting environmental awareness drives and facilitating farmers to interact with their local agricultural extension officers and government representatives.
d) To curtail Tibetans¡¦ involvement in the trade of endangered species products, such as the skins of tigers, leopards and otters, and in ivory beads, through campaigns about the plight of these animals as well as the non-monetary values of biodiversity.