Biodiversity Matters International Youth Symposium For Biodiversity

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Michael Leveille and Daniel Bisaccio. Verbatim.

“The sharing of information and collaboration with students from other nations bring us closer together and help us all to realise that we do indeed live in a global village.”

Clint Monaghan, delegate director Second International Youth Symposium for Diversity  

Community Action To Improve The Environment

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Kate Buchanan, WAGGGS. Verbatim.

Member Organisations of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) carry out many projects around the world.

Here are two examples of projects tackling environmental issues.

Both projects won an Olave Award for outstanding community service work at the WAGGGS World Conference in 2008.

Girl Guides of Malaysia: “Recycling for Unity” project

3. Lead And Get Others Involved - Lead Your Project To Success

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Verbatim.

Identifying your skills and characteristics will help you LEAD your project to success. Start by understanding your own strengths and needs, and then consider how creating a team could help you better achieve your goals. Helping your team members identify and leverage their own strengths and talents for the project is an important part of leadership. It is also important to ensure that all those involved are able to share in the vision of what you are trying to achieve. 

The United Nations Decade On Biodiversity

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. David Ainsworth, CBD. Verbatim.

You are part of nature’s rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it. 

Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, supports the living systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on. We know that our actions are causing biodiversity to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate. These losses are irreversible, make our lives poorer and damage the life support systems we rely on every day. But we can prevent them.

Identify And Get Informed - Identify The Issues

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Verbatim.

Refer Back to your reflections on the biological resources that you would like to conserve, protect or restore. Now you can IDENTIFY and narrow down the biodiversity issues that are more important to you.

Case Study: Elluminate Fire And Ice Organic Garden Project

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Annika Su, Taiwan. Verbatim.

Annika Su (left) and her classmates, Ruo-chi Kong, Huei-chu Wu and Yu-yin Tsai, at Fongsi Junior High School, Taiwan, accept a 2009 Global Junior Challenge

award on behalf of the Elluminate Fire & Ice Organic Garden Project.

© Cindea Hung

In 2006, Abel Machado School in the tiny community of Massambará, Vassouras, Brazil, participated in an online event that challenged schools to implement one activity to combat climate change in their local area. The event was organised by the non‑profit global collaboration initiative, Fire & Ice, started by Elluminate, an e-learning and virtual conferencing technology provider based in Canada.

Case Study: Mt. Kenya Youth Initiative For Ecosystem Restoration

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Sylvia Wambui Wachira, Kenya. Verbatim.

Sylvia Wambui Wachira (left) plants a tree

seedling with a student at Kabiru-ini secondary

school, Karatina, Kenya.

© Sylvia Wambui Wachira

The Mt. Kenya Youth Initiative for Ecosystem Restoration (MKYIER) is a volunteer-run community organisation, founded by urban and rural youth, to address deforestation in the Nyeri North district of Kenya.

Sylvia Wambui Wachira, MKYIER co-founder and programme manager, describes how she and her friends started the organisation and how they empowered a new generation of forest stewards, one school at a time: