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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Today 5th June World Environment Day!

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The United Nations has declared 5th June as World Environment Day. The five women who contributed In this field, one of them a Kenyan woman  procured Noble Prize in 2004 . A brief summary about them and their work.


1)Wangari Maathai:





Wangari Maathai has made environmental preservation in Africa her life’s work. And what a life it’s been! Born in Kenya in 1940, she was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She later went on to found the Green Belt Movement – an organization that has helped women plant more than 40 million trees on community lands throughout the continent. She also has been active in politics throughout her career, and in 1998 she became co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign for debt forgiveness. In recognition of her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace, she was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Momentum recently had the honor of speaking with Maathai about climate adaptation in Africa, the role of women in the environmental movement and her hopes for the future.


2) Julia:
Julia Lorraine "Butterfly" Hill is an environmentalist, poet, writer, educator, speaker, and founder of the organization Circle of Life. She earned international fame as an environmental activist by protecting an old-growth forest in northern California from clear-cutting by a logging company. To prevent the logging, she lived in one of the trees ­ a 1,000-year-old redwood known as "Luna" ­ for 738 days until an agreement was reached with the Pacific Lumber Company.

Enduring not only illness and the forces of nature but also the efforts of Pacific Lumber to bring her down, Hill established the longest activist "tree sit" in the world, the prior record having been ninety days in England. Eventually a legal agreement was reached that provided for the preservation of Luna and all the trees within the three acres surrounding it; in return, Pacific Lumber received a $50,000 payment that was provided by Hill, with the stipulation that it be donated to a local college, Humboldt State University.

Her courage, commitment and profound clarity in articulating a message of hope, empowerment, and love and respect for all life has inspired millions of people worldwide.

Founder of the Circle of Life, an organization devoted to environmental education and activism

Youngest person ever elected to the Ecology Hall of Fame

Named by John F. Kennedy Jr., in George magazine, as one of the twenty most influential women in politics

Co-founder of the Engage Network and the inspiration behind What′s Your Tree



3) Jane Godall :

Originally brought to Africa to work with Louis Leakey, Jane Goodall began her work with chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve in 1970. By close observation, she documented the social organization of chimps in the wild, including their social nature, their tool-making, their occasional systematic killing of one another, their hierarchy and their social development.

Jane Goodall has also worked for the conservation of chimpanzees in the wild and for better conditions for chimps in zoos and research institutions, through speaking and writing, raising funds, and through the Jane Goodall Institute.

4)Dr. Vandana Shiva

Navdanya International, founded in India by physicist and internationally renowned activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, was born out of a vision of peace and non-violence. Navdanya’s aim is to defend and protect nature and the rights of people to access to food and water and dignified jobs and livelihoods. Promoting local and ecological food models is critical to alleviating poverty, hunger, and safeguarding natural resources, including water, especially in this time of climate change chaos.

Articulating rarely heard views from the global South, Navdanya believes that cultural and biological diversity is essential for ensuring creative, peaceful societies throughout the planet.

5) Nirupama Deshpande:

About SBK

Sampoorna Bamboo Kendra (SBK), founded by social workers Sunil & Nirupama Deshpande, was started around 12

years ago from tribal village of Lawada in Melghat Forest. SBK was started initially as a means to solve the malnutrition

problem in the region and to help improve upon the many other social problems that plague the region. Today with the

advent of mass produced goods, artisan based products are having a hard time competing at these price points and

hence artisan communities around the world and in India are dwindling. The artisan communities at one time formed the

base of a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable decentralized industrial economy, unlike today’s

western industrialized economies, which aren’t nearly as socially or environmentally sustainable. It is this

economy that is based on artisanry that they would like to resurrect. Hence, the ultimate vision behind SBK’s work

is to: “Restablish respect & honor for artisans in society”With such a deep vision, their work is well beyond

the activities of just generating a livelihood in the Melghat region, it spans the entire country. The Melghat is where they

are effectively developing this model that they hope to spread across all of India in hopes of revitalizing and

reestablishing India’s amazing tradition of artisanry, some of the best in the world and while in the process

employing rural India much more effectively and responsiblly than today. This vision has led them to generate livelihoods

in the Melghat region by offering trainings in bamboo handicraft & housing work to ST and SC youth. Bamboo was

chosen as it is an eco-friendly sustainable renewable resource with remarkable strength and flexibility, locally available

throughout India and has 100’s of applications for man-kind. In support of this work, they are involved with

marketing of handicrafts through an artisan cooperative, building awareness of bamboo applications, working to organize

artisans on a local, state and national level through Karigar Panchayats in order to fight for artisan rights and working to

change government policies to be more artisan supportive. In addition, their work concentrates on improving design and

production in order to ensure the trainees have viable livelihoods in today’s socio-economic environment. Outside

of the bamboo livelihood work, SBK is involved with other social development work in areas such as rural credit

generation, village-level micro-planning, SHG group creation and crèche center operation, all targeted at the local

Melghat population.Mission:

- Increase employment opportunities in rural India (particularly for SC/ST groups) by production of value-added items

- Promote cultivation and use of an eco-friendly material like bamboo

- Foster creativity, self-reliance and self-confidence among our traditional artisan communities

- Get Bamboo recognized as a modern engineering material

- Establish an artisan education system that spans from the local to the national levelAssistance

We could always use assistance in our everyday activities. If you genuinely understand and feel the cause that we are

fighting for and would like to either donate your time to us as a volunteer or donate money to help fund future activities

published the above article in Inspirations Friends.

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