GREEN Brunei will be organising a Climate Camp for students on various sustainability issues and to highlight the reality of climate change.
The non-governmental organisation’s president, Khairunnisa Ash’ari, said the camp will run from August 19-21 at the Sumbiling Eco Village in Temburong with students aged 14-18 from Yayasan Secondary School and Jerudong International School taking part.
She said the students will participate in fun and exciting activities in local jungles and around rivers.
“The Climate Camp offers an opportunity to gain a better understanding about the importance of addressing climate change issues and to learn more about environmental situations in Brunei,” she said.
Khairunnisa said she hoped students will appreciate the value of the country’s natural resources and at the same time enjoy the serenity of Temburong and get active through various jungle and water activities.
During the camp, participants will engage in activities like trekking, organic farming and night walks.
Khairunnisa said this is the first time Green Brunei is conducting such a camp.
“Previously, we carried out the Youth Environmental Leadership Camp twice at the same place. But we’re rebranding this to a Climate Camp since we’ll be involving topics on (things like) climate change and sustainability,” she said.
She said the camp will utilise resources from the Climate Reality Project Training she had in Manila in March from former US Vice President and environmentalist Al Gore.
“I’m hoping climate change will become a term that more young people will be aware of and that they can take individual steps to contribute towards climate action,” she said.
She said she also hopes more schools will be able to join.
“We can definitely bring in more people if the government or private companies are able to subsidise the cost of the camp.
“Temburong provides a wonderful learning environment, and we also want to support local eco-tourism by conducting our camp there. It’s not just about the lessons we deliver through talks or discussions but also the experiential learning from (activities such as) observing the way of life of the local community, practicing organic farming and jungle trekking,” she said.
In September, another round of the Green Leaders Camp organised by Green Brunei will be held for 18-to-25-year-olds this September.
This is the fourth camp of its kind since its inception in 2014.
Khairunnisa said 35 youths are expected to participate in the camp.
She said this camp will enable participants to understand more about environmental issues in Brunei through talks, discussions and field trips.
The theme for the camp is “Agriculture”, and Khairunnisa said they chose it following recent news reports saying local farmers are unaware of the impact of climate change towards agriculture.
“Participants are expected to have a better understanding about the many issues and environmental challenges faced in this country.
Through dialogues with non-government organisations, participants are expected to develop a stronger interest in taking part in environmental activities,” she said.
As part of the terms and conditions in participating in the camp, Khairunnisa said they are expected to execute their project after completing their programme.
She said this will be the first time Green Brunei will be inviting green entrepreneurs to share their experiences in starting a business relating to environmental conservation.
To date, the Green Leaders Camp has trained 92 youth and produced seven follow-up projects.
They are the green youth workshop, green talk, green race, waste2art exhibition, green ambassador programme, remarkable green race 2 and 3R race.
Source: The Brunei Times