What is required to mobilize community against environmental threats?

INTRODUCTION

Climatic change is real and yes among of the foremost threat when it comes to serious discussion about the environment. climatic change affect us in a ways that we can feel and see, you might have noticed a freakish weather, heat weaves, drought, unusual storms, and temperature change causing crop to die, decreasing the amount of food available, melting of icescape, flood and imbalance of wildlife.

On other side deforestation is the rapidly growing problem in areas like Africa, Central and South America. Not only does this mean fewer trees, less clean oxygen, and the displacement of the wildlife, deforestation means a dangerous decrease in a natural fighter of global warming. Our tropical rainforest, which are crucial to stabilize our climate and human survival, are being chopped down at great extent. Pollutions comes in many forms and no matter where you live, you have probably seen form of it. The main reason for why pollution has gotten so out of control is our desire for more stuff, the need for more manufactured items growing manufacturing industries has lead to more water, land and air pollution. 

Human activities have also lead to the loss of diversity which is crucial in every day life. What we need to know is that each species has a role on our planet, and when one dies it can have catastrophic effect on the rest of us. Climatic changes result from our doing on nature may also contribute to dangerous problem, and that is melting of ice resulting into rising sea level as the result to floods and sink of land. Rapid population growth to its extent have much impact to the environment, this is the problem when number of people increase than the environment can support (WWF, 2010).

Community         Is a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage (Kottack, 2006).         

Mobilize means to organize and encourage a group of people to take collective action in pursuit of a particular objective.(www.oxforddictionaries.com/.../mobilize).

Environment is every thing around us; it includes all of the living and non living things with which we interact (Bradshaw, 2007)

Environmental threats are any thing that may lead to the deterioration of environment and have impact to the survival of living and non living organisms (Miller, 2009).

Environmental threat like ozone depletion, toxic waste, acidic rain, climatic change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, rising in sea level, pollution, population growth, depletion of natural resources and overgrazing is are real problem for the  survival of both environment and human. Action towards mobilizing community against environmental threats currently is necessary and unexceptional. The following are the initiative to be taken to mobilize community against environmental threats.

Promoting education and public awareness on environment protection

Education raising public awareness on the need to protect the environment for the daily and future survive is important when it comes to mobilization of community against environmental threats. It has reached a time to where members of the community should understand the impact of destructing the environment and its consequences. Both informal and formal ways of enriching people through environmental education can be applied so that education provided reach to majority. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to dress environment and development issues. Both formal and informal education on environment is indispensable for changing people attitude (UNESCO, 1997). Education can be provided in all level of formal learning and involving student in environmental action group activities, but also with the use of public campaign, meetings and information technology this can be possible to reduce the extent of environmental threat (UNEP, 2003).

Encouragement and supporting more NGOs dealing with environmental protection

This includes voluntary private organization or civil society that have local or country base. Countries should encourage NGOs organization to increase their involvement in environmental based project, through joint awareness initiatives and improve interchange with other constituency in society. Central and local government should support NGOs through policies and financial support by increasing budget to the ministry concerning with environmental matters. NGOs and civil society organization like that of Green Peace International and World Wildlife Fund assume advocacy role, campaign against human rights and environmental abuse respectively. In such case both government and international funding agencies should direct their funding efforts to such kind or organization.

Mobilizing community on understanding international agreement on environmental protection

Treaties which are being made among the states should not be left to hang on the hands of representative or central government, instead should be addressed to local communities, through NGOs, local government and community based organization so as to be put into action .This will make communities actively to engage and support the programs directed to control issues like pollution, deforestation and overgrazing which have impact on environment and human survival. Treaties like that of united nation conference on environmental and development in Rio De Janeiro in 1992, which lead to later Kyoto Protocol addressing issues like reduction of green house gases should be well understood by communities of members countries (Miller, 2009).

Enactment and effective implementation of policies and laws

Central and local government should mobilize its communities against environmental threats with the enactment and effective implementation of policies and laws concerning with environmental protection. For example local authorities can make by laws which guide the communities on appropriate ways of depositing solid waste in urban and cities like that of Mbeya, and there should be adequate commitment to make such by laws functioning and making appropriate monitoring. Making by laws or policies it self is not enough but there should be adequate infrastructure that will not force people to breach the laws. For example there should be enough collection point that supports the available population and physical infrastructure that allow collection of such wastes. In so doing the problem of pollution can be solved in developing cities and towns (UNHABITAT, 2004).

Improving efforts towards reducing overpopulation

Rapid increase in population that environment cant support has lead to the much increase environmental destruction caused by establishment of new settlement, deforestation, pollution, over cultivation as well as increase of consumption of manufacturing goods which all have negative impact to environment. Community should be mobilized to see the need for having number of people which environment can support not only for today world but for future. Although various initiatives has been taken to balance the population in Africa still such initiative are hindered by cultural, economic and political pressure. Much is needed to ensure the communities understand the negative impact of the rapid increase in population. For example English Malthusian predicted that, world population growth would exceed that of food production and would lead to wide spread of famine (Miller, 2009).

Making integrative approach between poverty reduction and environmental protection

Effort toward mobilizing the community against environmental threats should also focus on the initiative to fight against poverty especial in developing countries. Environment in developing countries has been affected due to human action to strive to meet their daily needs. For example, unsustainable economic practice like shifting cultivation, overgrazing, and the use of destructive source of energy is few to mention. While poverty can increase some type of environmental degradation, the reverse is also true; pollution on other side can have Sevier effect on poor and can increase poverty (Spoolman, 2009). There fore the initiative against environmental threat will be successful if the effort against extreme poverty is also achieved.

Mobilizing the community in the use of renewable materials and resources

In the world of much consumption of manufacturing product, so many pollutants are being produced and hence increasing pollution on water, land and air. Industries and communities should be encouraged to use recycled materials which can be reused again and again hence reducing the possibility of being scattered in various palaces. On other side energy sources like water and solar energy can be friendly to the environment and hence reduce threats to the environment at large.

Recommendation

Good environmental practice should involve common agreement and commitment in signing and put into practice the international treaties without considering the level of development of a country. Both developed and developing countries have to play a part in ensuring that, the common agreements they reach are put into practice.

Monitoring and evaluation of environmental laws and policies by the respective department, authorities or agencies should be the best approach towards ensuring the laws and policies are in hand to hand to the environmental changes as well as advancement in science and technology.

Conclusion

We all want to protect our planet, but were mostly too busy or too lazy to put up a big change that would improve our life style and save the environment. Despite our advancement in science and technology we all  depend on the environment for air, water, food, shelter, energy and everything else we need to stay alive and healthy as the result were part of and not apart from, the rest of nature. By understanding need of our survival for today and future, the initiative towards environmental protection is for all of us wether as an individual, group, community, state ,continent or world at large, we all need to work together to protect our environment.

REFERENCES

Bradshaw, W,  &Dymond Chacko (2007). Contemporary World Regional Geography. New

York: McGraw-Hill Companies

Clencoe (2001). Earth and Life science. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies

Conrad P. Kottak (2008). Cultural Anthropology (11^th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill

Companies

Miller Spoolman (2009). Living in Environment.Canada: Michelle Julet Publisher

United Nation Report (2003). Declaration and Recommendation of the Tblisi International

Conference on Environmental education. USA: UNESCO & UNEP

WWF (2005). Initiative Towards Protecting the Nature. Dar esSalaa: WWF Tanzania

Internet source: The meaning of mobilize. Retrieved on 02/ April/2014 from www.oxforddictionaries.com/.../mobilize

Written By AUSI CHIWAMBO (2014)-Teofilo Kisanji University