From The Jakarta Post

Children speak up on global warming

Anisa Basuki , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 10/28/2008 10:22 AM | City

Dozens of children from 14 provinces gathered in the capital to voice their thoughts on global warming issues.

The 36 children are joining a four-day conference starting Monday to understand more about environmental issues and to learn how they can reduce the effects of global warming.

Fourth to sixth graders will attend the Let's Be Greener workshop organized by the Jakarta-based children magazine Bobo. The workshop aims to increase the children's passion and awareness of environmental protection, Bobo editor Sigit Wahyu said.

"The purpose of the event is to encourage children to establish environmentally friendly lifestyles to reduce global warming," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said there were at least 1,500 applicants for this year's conference.
"We had to screen the applicants until we got the 36 participants with the best essays on environmental issues. We limited the participants this year because last year we accepted around 50 participants and the conference wasn't effective."

One of the participants, Tari, 9, who lives in Pamulang of Banten province, said she was concerned about the condition of her neighborhood's environment.

"The water around my neighborhood is murky. I joined a club run by the state power company PLN, the Junior Firefly Club. From the club I have learned how to make a water filter for my neighborhood," she said.

Meanwhile, 12-years-old Dian, a participant from Jakarta who lived in Japan for eight years, said that she felt sad about the conditions in Indonesia.

"People in Japan never threw their trash in public areas. The conditions are very different to Indonesia. Here we can see lots of trash in public spaces, such as rivers and streets. I hope by joining the conference I can ask everybody to keep our country free from garbage."

Thariq, 9, a participant from Padang, West Sumatra, said he felt the effects of global warming in his hometown. The temperature is increasing and the weather changes often, he said. He tries to reduce the greenhouse effect by planting castor trees, with seeds he received from Bobo, he added.

"I planted the castor seeds in my yard and it has grown twice my height. I gave my friends some seeds, so they could also plant them at their house," he said.

The participants will plant seedlings Tuesday along Pesanggrahan River in South Jakarta together with local farmer group Sangga Buana and its founder Chaeruddin, who has received many awards for his work protecting trees on riverbanks.

Environmentalist and former state environment minister Sonny Keraf is also involved in the conference as an expert source.

"We hope the children will come out with a declaration on what young people their age can do to save the earth," Sigit said, adding that the closing ceremony on Oct. 30 would be presided by environment minister Rachmat Witoelar.

Source:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/10/28/children-speak-global-warming.html