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World Environment Day is being marked at the Johannesburg Zoo with a special focus on saving the planet. Experts will be on hand and entertainment will be laid on.
SOME 3 000 children from 20 Gauteng schools will spend World Environment Day at the Johannesburg Zoo, where they will learn about animals and caring for the world.
World Environment Day is on Friday, 5 June. "These will be children of different abilities and disabilities," said the zoo's spokesperson, Letta Madlala.
Awareness will be raised of the importance of animals and other environmental facets such as soil, water, trees and plants.
Environmental experts from the Endangered Wildlife Trust, Rand Water, the Delta Environment Centre and Science Bono tackling a number of topics will be set up in four different sections. "We will build a number of activity areas," said Madlala.
In the Alpha Section, the focus will be on the conservation of animals such as frogs, while in the Bravo Section the talk will be about a water recovery programme.
The other two sections, Charlie and Delta, will have activities specifically aimed at educating children about animals, while also entertaining them. In the Charlie Section they will learn about carnivores; in the Delta Section the children will learn to identify animal droppings.
Raising environmental awareness
"Children will find the section even more interesting," said Madlala. "We will teach [them] about endangered species."
Trees will also be planted in the zoo on the day, promoting the City's aim to make Joburg even greener. And some of the finalists of Miss Earth South Africa 2009 "will spend time playing with the children", said Madlala.
An initiative of the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day has been marked worldwide since 1972 in an attempt to raise awareness about human behaviour that degrades the environment.
This year, the UNEP is focusing on climate change, with the theme: Your planet needs you. Unite to combat climate change; the zoo will aim to "create awareness about the whole biodiversity".
"It is all about making sure there is a balance between human beings and other species," Madlala pointed out. Entry will be free of charge and everyone is invited.
The City
Joburg will mark World Environment Day on Wednesday, 10 June. In a ceremony in Alexandra, in the north, it will release its State of Environment Report, an assessment document released every five years.
It will also open the township's Tsogang Buy-back Recycling Centre on Third Street.
The director of management at the City's environment department, Lunelle Serobatse, said the centre was "strategic because people will now put value to waste".
Serobatse said the centre would create jobs and promote a clean environment in Alexandra. "Now people in Alexandra will think twice about throwing their glass bottles away because they can get paid for them."
Executive Mayor Amos Masondo is expected to attend. Trees will be planted to green the centre, which was created by the City and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. It is the only one of its kind in Alex.
Serobatse said the City was keeping in tune with the message of the United Nations to combat climate change. "There is some extent to which we also communicate the message of climate change to communities."
The City hosted a climate change municipal seminar last week and is planning a workshop for councillors where the topic will be dissected.
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