The International Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will be held April 11-16, 2010. The event will ‘explore how nature significantly contributes to our wellbeing and broader societal benefits.’
Matthew Zylstra and colleague Noël Isaacs attended four days of the Spirit of the Wild (SOTW) Course at Bergplaas Nature Reserve. It was a thoroughly enriching experience and both were left with the feeling that they had a much more complete tool-box for fulfilling their roles as aspiring environmental educators.
The eyes4earth initiative recently teamed up with TerraPi Charity to offer an environmental education weekend for 25 children from Maranatha and Protea shelters for street youth/orphans from the nearby city of Port Elizabeth. TerraPi has run a number of these courses already during the past year or so and facilitator’s Rob and Yvette’s shared enthusiasm and passion for educating about connecting to nature and environmental issues such as exotic weeds (i.e. invasive species such as black wattle – Acacia mearnsii) is impressive. The youth engaged in a range of activities which included guided nature walks (sometimes in silence), wildlife spotting, removal of black wattle seedlings, storytelling, drumming and free-time.
Wageningen (NL): Today is Earth Day for some of us (it seems that amidst the daily hustle & bustle, humanity does still require one official day a year to reflect on the planet). For eyes4earth, it is also three years exactly since we first launched ‘The Question’ – “What did nature do for you today?” Since then, we’ve received hundreds of enlightening responses (more than we have been able to post online). And these responses have given us many unexpected insights into how individuals across society perceive the benefits they receive from nature as well as their understanding of the concept of ‘ecosystem services’.
Coolart Wetlands (AU): Following on from our two previous posts below, we asked a few of the performing artists at the TGL festival the question, “What did you do for nature today?” It’s not the easiest question to answer so have a quick listen to hear what they had to say…
Coolart Wetlands (AU): Following on from our previous post, we asked selected performing artists at the Thin Green Line Festival what they understand by the term ‘ecosystem services’. As you may expect from outcomes of our previous posts which have asked the same thing, responses don’t usually match the scientific defintion.
Coolart Wetlands (AU): eyes4earth got amongst the fantastic Valentine’s Day vibe and feelgood groove to ask “The Question” to performing artists at the inaugural Thin Green Line Festival on the Mornington Peninsula, Australia.
Coolart Wetlands (AU): eyes4earth attended the Thin Green Line Festival last Saturday 14th February along with 2000 other revellers who soaked up the great weather, positive vibes and cosy feel-good atmosphere (maybe that was the Valentine’s Day factor).
Barcelona (ES): Last week we posted the responses of “The Question”, i.e. What did nature do for you today?” as shared by the distinguished panellists of the Sustainability Dialogue on Spirituality and Conservation at the 2008 IUCN World Conservation Congress. This week we post Part 2: which showcases their answers to the equally important question of : “What did you do for nature today?” .
Barcelona (ES): The IUCN World Conservation Congress which played centred stage back in October last year saw a number of global ‘firsts’. One of these was the first ever Sustainability Dialogue on Spirituality and Conservation which took place on Thursday 9th October 2008.
What is nature doing for you now?
Donations to eyes4earth can be made through The GivenGain Foundation:
