Most adults admit to not having the necessary knowledge pertaining to the environment and how best to care for it.
As a result, many people are continually harming the environment, not because they actually set out to destroy the very environment on which their livelihoods depend, but because they have no clue that half the activities they are engaging in are detrimental to the natural order of things.
This unfortunate situation can be attributed to the fact that although there has always been some mention of one thing or another to do with the environment, it had never until now been in a serious enough fashion.
It also did not involve enough people to allow even the most ordinary of people to learn what such terms as land degradation, sustainable utilisation or global warming are all about.
Environmental issues seemed in the not-too-distant past to be a preserve of the educated and well-read, something that did not at all make our situation any better as people continued to degrade the land inadvertently.
All that however looks set to change, thanks to the numerous environmental education programmes that have been rolled out throughout the country, most of them concentrating on schoolchildren.
It is not rare today to have a Grade III pupil tell you about greenhouse gases and their effect on the environment.
They even go as far as to offer suggestions on how to cut the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere.
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That is generally how in touch with nature and the environment the new generation is.
Since children naturally enjoy sharing with family and friends what they would have learnt, there is bound to be a wider environmental awareness in the country, which is a very good thing.
Maxwell Kanotunga is a determined global climate campaigner and another individual who has been restlessly pushing for environmental education, specialising in public education on climate change.
Working with such international organisations as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the German Advisory Council on Climate Change (WBGU) among others, he goes around the country educating on climate change while distributing material on the topics discussed.
“I do it for the passion. I do it because I’m very concerned about the environment and I want people to stop being ignorant about issues that affect them,” said Kanotunga whose educational programme named the Living Green Campaign has been running since 2005.
Although the campaign is also open to mature members of society who are interested, it mostly focuses on schoolchildren.
Kanotunga has paid educational visits to many schools, among them Highfield High 1 and 2, Kambuzuma High 1, Chipembere Primary School, Cabal College, Mhofu Primary School and Chengu Primary School among many others.
Kanotunga said there were also plans to launch the Zimbabwe Planet Protectors Club, which he said would most probably be launched in August. The club will be open for anyone between the age of 11 and 19.
Efforts by organisations and individuals to educate schoolchildren on the environment should be applauded as it is the only sure way to develop our young people into adults with leadership qualities and equipped with a sense of responsibility towards the environment and the ability to bring positive changes in our families and communities.
