Many of our young people and children are aware of the existence on topics concerning climate change, pollution, environment degradation and so forth. Hardly, our young ones have ever heard of the term Ecological Justice. Sounded very ethical, professional and very high to reach? Yes, to some. But in fact, if we bring it down to simple terms to our children, we can talk and simplify this term by saying, the act ofdoing injustice to our plants and animals who are living in this earth. How is that, one child asked?
When we as Humans, do not care nor think of our natural environment. When we pollute and put rubbish such as non-biodegradable products (product’s that cannot decay such as bottles, plastics..etc) carelessly in our waters, beaches, forests, rivers and other areas where animals and plants identify as their natural habitats.
Even the smallest of ants as mentioned to the children, contribute to the freshening of the soil, hence allowing water and oxygen to reach the roots of the plants. Basically, these ants take seeds into their habitat where it will sprout and grow new plants for our vegetation, forests, flora and fauna.
Ecological Injustice is created where we do not have respect of our environment, hence continue to rubbish and pollute our surroundings, not giving any second thoughts that the environment that we live in,is a large planet being shared with our animals, insects and plants. Such are the negligence of humans concerning the degradation of our environmentthat we continue to ignore thebright signages speaking loud and clear! Ignoring the advice and the evermore continuity ofawareness and advocacy brought about by our environmentalists concerning the negative impacts thatwill affect nature.
It’s all downtime! It’s time that we continue to be vigilant in some areas so that our children understand the reasons, learn and take up responsibility as they grow.
We humans have a greater responsibility to play as we are stewards of Gods Creations, our land, our rivers, our forests, our seas and any other habitual space for our living organisms. We, who are keepers of Gods garden of Eden, have a responsibility in keeping our environment clean and as stewards, not only do we keep it clean but take care of it.
Our Clean-Up campaign with the children and youths of the Villages of Qarasarau and Wainivilase helped clean up a lot of rubbish that has been polluted by picnickers and beachgoers for a long time. The rubbish filled up more than 50 garbage bags collected from the beach, the undergrowth and from the sides of the road.
The children and youth are slowly understanding through this activity on how important ecological justice is and its existence and how we as humans take ownership of our environment with responsibility and taking good care of our ecological system.
We thank the Alumni of Leadership Fiji 2021 who had funded the small Project and the National Youth Council of Fiji for their participation.
JPIC Coordinator – Ioane Nawaikula
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