The Conservation of Bird Nests as one of the Major Activities for the Protection of the Environment

Muhazi, Rwanda

Every year on 5 June, the world celebrates World Environment Day. It is a day when everyone must think carefully about their role in protecting the environment for future decisions. It is also a day when policy-makers must inform the public about sustainable programs to protect the environment and what the benefits will be for the public to participate in the environmental protection process.

So far, scientists have shown that reforestation is one of the most important things in protecting the environment, combating air pollution and the impacts of climate change.

Recent figures have shown that every year, 51 billion metric tons of emissions are released into the atmosphere. This is the main issue at a time when the world wants to reduce these gases to 0%. This will be possible if the Human Being changes his attitudes and actions related to Air Pollution.

It will also require research and discovery of what needs to be done best to meet future aspirations for the good of the planet and its surroundings, including humanity. But also, because the goal of reaching 0% emissions is a long-term goal, in these modern times we should invest with our current means as we move forward to make this goal a reality.

In this quest for Zero Emissions, young people must not be left behind, whether at school, at work or in various aspects of daily life.

It is very important to think about the important actions to be taken in the protection of the environment for well-being and to combat the effects of climate change.

A close example is the Don Bosco Muhazi Technical and Vocational Training School which is located in Gasabo district, Gasagara cell in the Gikomero sector in Kigali city.

The students at this school, many of whom come from poor families, insist that a well-preserved environment is life.

This is where they believe that an act of conservation can be small but can be useful either in productivity or in changing attitudes towards the importance of the environment and the reasons for protecting it.

The conservation of bird nests as one of the major activities for the protection of the environment.

Based on a few examples of their environmental club activities aimed at preserving the environment at school, when you visit them, they show you their unique conservation activities such as conserving bird nests in the nearby environment.

For them, it is forbidden to see the bird's nest and disturb it. According to Mr. Jean Claude Ngendahayo, teacher and head of the environmental protection club in Don Bosco Muhazi, in the vicinity of the school, they have a strong bird sanctuary and gives an example of a large bird's nest that everyone can see as for the school.

He says it's a small example of the various activities of their Club even though they don't yet have enough resources to be able to do much of the work they're planning that will benefit people living in the vicinity of their school.

This conservation effort is also attributed to the contribution of the ARCOS Network through its initiative to promote conservation activities in Rwandan schools.

Mr Jean Claude said: "As you can see, the activities of our environmental club are mainly about preserving the trees we have planted, ensuring that the flowers we have planted do not dry out."

"We are even now planning to establish a tree nursery in September so that we can provide trees to the community and each student can bring the trees to their place of residence and we are planning this in order to protect the environment. Each child will have a tree to plant and take care of until he grows," he adds.

Recently, a Belgian NGO ACTEC announced support for Don Bosco Muhazi TVET and among the activities that will be supported is the Student Environment Club. This means that it will be a trigger for them to intensify and expand the activities of their club.

Mr Jean Claude said: "We also plan to have nursery trees with many different species. Once we start getting help, we also look at how, if possible, we can select one of our most disadvantaged colleagues and give him the solar energy system that is not expensive when we look at the importance he can play in his/her needs for reviewing evening classes at home."

Mr. Jean Claude says that during their time at the Club, they shared their knowledge with the surrounding community, including working with local authorities in community work, such as in the fight against erosion that could threaten Lake Muhazi."

"The knowledge we have needs to go as far as possible. When you look at the people around the center, they know it because we often visit them during meetings, but, if possible, we will visit other schools and create environmental clubs there, because many schools do not have an environmental club," he said.

Why are environmental clubs needed in schools?

"As the dry season approaches, there will be people burning forests, cutting down trees and destroying the environment, and discovering that they are not fighting erosion and other activities. We need to go to school and educate children about environmental protection. so that in the future we have the Rwanda we want", Mr. Jean Claude explains.

Do you have enough skills to share with others in the field of environmental protection?

Mr. Jean Claude: "Since the knowledge we have is not enough, we really need training because we lack the capacity. When we get the ability, we train first, and then we will train others. We would teach them how to dig pits to collect rainwater, give them trees and teach them how to store rotten and solid waste, among other things."

What do you plan to do as we celebrate Environment Day on June 5?

Mr. Jean Claude: "We are planning a lot of activities, activities that we will pass on to other students, we will do various cleaning activities, disposal of rotten and solid waste; We will collect the waste to make farmer for the vegetables we have planted and we are also preparing for the next forest planting season. We plan to establish a tree nursery and continue to maintain the ones we have planted."

In addition to environmental preservation activities, the club is affiliated with the section for the promotion of traditional culture. It can be observed that to achieve zero emissions, it must be combined with the Natural or Traditional method.

For example, in Don Bosco Muhazi, young people use traditional calabashes and other objects to entertain visitors. Calabashes and these other objects are not metals. Their productions do not require the emission of industrial productions, they rather cultivate them in the field and are then transformed into a beautiful and precious tool.

This is where they base their conviction that environmental protection must go hand in hand with a cultural development programme because the two are mutually exclusive.