Welcome to Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement
Environment is everything around us and it is very much related to our day-to-day life. It includes biotic and abiotic components.
Degradation refers to undesirable changes that occur in the environment on which we are completely dependent.
Responsibility is a duty or action which contributes towards the welfare of a community and the environment.
Since our birth, the environment has done a lot for human beings and animals and plants. But it seems now that the environment has become old and tired, and is not able to contribute as much as it used to.
Due to the misbehaviour of human beings, a lot of unwanted changes are taking place in the environment. These are disturbing Mother Nature and preventing the betterment of the green earth. The major forms of degradation are: global warming, deforestation, soil erosion, extinction of wildlife, floods, ecological imbalances, natural resource depletion, and moral decay.
From the global point of view, the above-mentioned problems are the major challenges to the IUCN and other environmental organisations. It was once said that if we human beings can bring about a good change to the environment, it will be our most rewarding contribution to the world. Planting a single tree is more fruitful than making a donation of a million dollars. There is a message behind this saying. It is how important the environment is to us and our survival.
If we understand this message about the environment and its contribution down the ages, we must take pity on this old and paralysed Mother Earth who served the entire world without shedding a single drop of blood. The feeling of wanting to help or serve our environment is a good sign. It is human nature. But the action plans and putting these plans into practice is the main thing on which we must stress.
Fortunately, a lot of methods exist that are practicable. Educating the masses about the environment and its conditions and providing basic knowledge to school kids, adults, villagers and other groups (monks, nuns and army) is very important.
Afforestation is also a very good form of action. Through afforestation a huge number of trees are planted and a lot of people can participate in this activity. This is not only a activity based on the environment but also a workshop in which people can gain fresh knowledge in the process of planting trees.
Organising essay and drawing competitions, debates, group discussions on environmental issues and film shows are also a very attractive means of environmental activism. Many people like to write compositions and to make drawings, while watching films is obviously liked by all. By doing all these things, we can do a great deal to create awareness about our green Mother Earth.
Establishing small groups in schools and professional institutions, and working for environment is also important. It is very fruitful as it is real action. Normally, we call these kinds of small groups working for the cleanliness of our surroundings as social workers. For us as Buddhists, it is an action that will earn us good merit. From the environmental point of view also, it is a sound contribution to the world.
The above points are all related to a group or to a single person. But more than this, there is another important group which is more powerful, i.e. the nation. A nation can do a lot on this serious issue. It can establish a number of sanctuaries, bio-reserves and protected forests and grasslands. It can also create strict laws regarding the protection and conservation of the environment. Lesser production of environmentally harmful produce by the government and by private companies is also a must if we want to bring about a positive change.
