Voices of Future Generations English - Blog #NatureVoices of Future Generations English - Blog #Naturehttps://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/tag/natureTue, 14 Apr 2026 04:12:34 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Mindfulness: A path to a Kinder You and a Better World - Voice of Ivy B. Ogbu]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/mindfulness-a-path-to-a-kinder-you-and-a-better-world-voice-of-ivy-b.-ogbu1Hey there, awesome young minds! Ever wondered how you can make a big difference in our world? Being a  changemaker  sounds like a big task wit ]]>

Mindfulness: A Path to a Kinder You and a Better World

Hey there, awesome young minds! Ever wondered how you can make a big difference in our world? Being a changemaker sounds like a big task with big shoes to fill. Well, I've got a somewhat easier but very impactful secret for you: it's all about something called "mindfulness," and it's like a magical wand for making the world a better place.

 

Imagine this: You're on an aeroplane, and they tell you to put on your oxygen mask before helping others. Why? Because you need oxygen first to fill up your lungs before you can help others. And guess what? Mindfulness is your mind's superpower!

 

Mindfulness means paying close attention to the here and now without judging. Like when you pause and think before reacting to a friend's comment or when you notice how much plastic you use and decide to use less. Mindfulness helps you understand your feelings and problems better, so you can make choices that make you and the world happier. It's like planting seeds of kindness, such as helping a classmate or cleaning up a park, and watching kindness spread all around.

 

Now, here's the big "aha" moment: Being kind to yourself makes it easy to be kind to others and our planet. Think about it: when you're happy and strong, you have the energy to make the world a better place.

 

Imagine if all of us changemakers practiced mindfulness every day. We'd become like kindness superheroes! We'd make small but impactful choices like using less plastic or saving energy, and guess what? These small acts help our planet stay healthy.

But that's not all! Mindfulness also helps us be kind to our friends and neighbors. When you're mindful, you notice when someone needs a friend or a helping hand.

 

And here's the best part: by being a mindful changemaker, you inspire others to be kind and mindful too. It's contagious, spreading a wave of goodness all around you.

 

So, remember, you don't have to change the whole world at once. Start by being a kind changemaker to yourself. Practice mindfulness, be kind to others, and watch the magic happen!


Voice of Ivy B. Ogbu


Ivy B. Ogbu is a sustainability specialist and a former UN employee with a passion for sustainable development. She is the author of "Raising Change Makers with Cyril”, a children’s book series that makes complex Sustainable Development Goals accessible 

and inspiring for young readers. Ivy hopes to empower children, educators, and parents to take action for a brighter, more

sustainable future.


Favourite book right now? 

Empowering Global Citizens: A World Course, Fernando Reimrez et al.

 

Favourite lesson at school? 

In retrospect, while I disliked biology at the time, it was the only subject growing up that gave me my first ‘aha’ moment, which is the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life on Earth.

 

Favourite animal/lifeform? 

Elephants.

 

Favourite hero/heroine?  

I never had a hero/heroine – I know, it’s weird. But I have been inspired by many people, especially women such as Joan Ruth Bader I never had a hero or heroine—I know, it’s weird. But I have been inspired by many people, especially women such as Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jacinda Ardern, Malala Yousafzai, and the list goes on—it is super long!

]]>Thu, 05 Oct 2023 14:18:49 +0400<![CDATA[Lets Save Our Oceans - the voice of Abrar Ahmed Sirohey]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/Let-s-Save-Our-OceansLife below water (SDG 14) and clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) are extremely important goals that demand immediate attention. Whole ecosystems and e ]]>

Let’s Save Our Oceans

Life below water (SDG 14) and clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) are extremely important goals that demand immediate attention. Whole ecosystems and economies, not to mention cultures and cities are at risk of collapse.

  

The 2021 UN SDG goals report states that on average only 1.2 % of national research budgets are allocated for ocean science.

  

Issues include plastic pollution, ocean warming, sea level rise, small fishery and ocean-based business collapse, overfishing, acidification, eutrophication, and dead zone creation.

  

I would like to go more in depth ;) on those last three issues.

  

First off, Ocean Acidification is the ongoing decrease of the pH value of the earth’s oceans. This is normally caused by the uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. The root cause of most ocean acidification is burning fossil fuels, an unsustainable, finite method of extracting energy that has many other serious consequences.

  

Eutrophication is the process by which entire bodies of water, or parts of them, become more and more enriched with minerals and nutrients. This may not sound bad, but it has unnatural consequences. It can cause algal blooms. Some algae can produce toxins that are harmful to other forms of life. They can even cause dead zones to form, which we will also explore. The main causes of eutrophication are runoff from agricultural land (Nitrogen) and households and industry (phosphorus)

  

  

Dead Zones are areas or bodies of water that contain no oxygen. This is known as Hypoxia. Hypoxia occurs when dissolved water falls to (or below) a concentration of 2ml of oxygen per litre of water. In dead zones, little to no aquatic flora or fauna can survive. Those who are mobile (able to move) can make efforts to escape and save themselves by leaving the area. Dead zones can be caused by algal blooms or can occur naturally, however they are mostly caused by or accelerated by human activity.

  

Coastal cities are at risk of flooding due to sea level rise. The country of Tuvalu recorded its cop26 speech while sinking. Countries are experiencing unusually wet or dry seasons. Coastal and fish-based economies are in a highly unstable state. Ecosystems are being destroyed and plastic is wreaking havoc on our oceans, rivers, lakes, seas, and many more.

  

An initiative called Team Seas was recently launched to help clean up oceans and rivers. It has partnered with a company known as The Ocean Clean-up and an organisation known as the Ocean Conservancy. They aim to remove 30,000,000 pounds of trash by removing one pound of trash for every dollar donated. The real reason this initiative is working is the determination of the people who believe in it. Already, they have removed over 17.5 million pounds of trash. That’s an astonishing number and it really shows the power people have when they work together to a common goal.

  

If we act fast and make useful changes in our world, we can save our oceans, seas, and rivers and all the beautiful and diverse ecosystems that live beneath them.


Voice of Abrar Ahmed Sirohey 

Abrar Ahmed Sirohey is a keen learner and a homeschooler. His favourite activities are playing games with his family and spending time with his cat, Wolfy. He hopes to see change in the field of SDG 7: clean and affordable energy production, storage and consumption and aspires to be a part of that change. Abrar is 13 years old. 

]]>Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:03:29 +0400<![CDATA[Furry Fabulous - the voice of Ali Sparkes]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/furry-fabulous-the-voice-of-ali-sparkesThis is Willow, my dog. When she arrived as a puppy she totally messed up my life… in a good way. Lots of my author friends have dogs or cats or other ]]>

Furry Fabulous

This is Willow, my dog. When she arrived as a puppy she totally messed up my life… in a good way.

Lots of my author friends have dogs or cats or other pets and we often put our favourites into a story. I think animals inject a magical energy into our writing. My Shapeshifter series features a boy who turns into a fox. My SWITCH series, for younger readers, is about twin brothers who keep getting switched into spiders and insects and then, later, amphibians and reptiles.

 

I’m fascinated by the way other creatures see the world we all share. I would love to understand their language. This is one of the reasons I wrote The Night Speakers series, where my main characters get to speak fluent animal.

 

Animal stories are always popular. I think it’s because nearly all of us have - or have had - an animal in our lives who has brought something emotional out of us. 

The first pet I ever had, all to myself, was Dotty, the rat. Now don’t go‘EURGH’!Pet rats are brilliant and Dotty was like a little dog - always ready to play.

 

She’d sit on my shoulder and snuggle into my hair and make little chattering noises into my ear. I still miss her. She inspired my rat characters, Scratch and Sniff, in the SWITCH series. 

Willow is now the four-footed love of my life. Love hurts. She has accidentally injured my fingers and my back and also left me with concussion when she and her pal Barnaby (another big labradoodle) knocked me off my feet.

 

But she is totally worth it. She’s going to star in a book out in 2022.

 

If you’re a writer, try a bit of animal magic and see where it takes you…

Favourite childhood book? 

 So very many of them! I will choose one today... another day it could be entirely different. Today it's... My Side Of The Mountain by Jean Craighead George. All about Sam Gribley who runs away to live on his wits in the mountains, with just a book on survival for company. It's got lots of brilliant info and little sketches and it's absolutely gripping. He builds a den in a hollow tree and captures a peregrine falcon chick and rears it, teaching it to hunt for him. My Shapeshifter series was really influenced by this story which was a class reader when I was about eight or nine. 

 

Favourite book right now? 

Trash by Andy Mulligan. It follows the life and death adventures of kids who work the rubbish tips in Brazil. They find a wallet - and in the wallet is something the authorities want to get back - at any cost. Brilliant, brilliant book!

 

Favourite lesson at school? 

Art. I had a great Art teacher called Harry Tucker, who I used to talk to, while I painted or drew, about life, the universe and everything. He's written into my Shapeshifter series.  

 

 

Favourite animal/lifeform? 

My labradoodle, Willow, of course. But in the wild, a fox. No question.

 

 

Favourite hero/heroine?  

Wildlife presenter, author, photographer and film-maker Chris Packham. We went to the same school (although I'm quite a few years younger so not at the same time) and know each other from when we both worked in regional BBC broadcasting. Chris campaigns tirelessly for wildlife and the planet and he's also a really genuine, funny, decent bloke. And even though he's massively in demand these days, he still returns my occasional emails. He's written a foreword for one of my books and advised me on the life of foxes for my first series.

]]>Sun, 17 Oct 2021 16:25:27 +0400<![CDATA[Animals, Money and More - the voice of Dhruti Shah]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/animals-money-and-more-the-voice-of-dhruti-shahWhen I was very little, much like many other children, I had a piggy bank in my room in London in the UK. I’d save up my pennies and my pound coins an ]]>

Animals, Money and More

When I was very little, much like many other children, I had a piggy bank in my room in London in the UK. I’d save up my pennies and my pound coins and think of all the wonderful books I’d be able to buy the next time we went to the shops. Sometimes if it was a really special book, and I couldn’t wait for it to be a birthday gift, it would take me quite a few months to collect enough money to cover the cost of it.

  

For many children all over the world, the piggy bank is their first exposure to finance and the world of money and business. It’s where, like me, you’d put your spare change and pocket money. Perhaps you do some chores and get paid for them – this little home bank is the place to store those coins.

  

But the Piggy Bank actually has a very long history, going all the way back to 1450. That’s the earliest date the term is recorded in the dictionaries. Back then, before there were banks, people would put their money into an earthenware pot called ‘a pygg’. Years later when potters were thinking about designs, they took that word and took the farmyard animal and ta-da, the traditional piggy bank was created. Nowadays, piggy banks can come in all shapes and sizes. They can look like any animal or shape.

  

When I was eight I decided I wanted to be a journalist and tell people’s stories. I secretly also wanted to be an author. But you can’t do anything really unless you come up with a way to make money to pay for things like food, bills, housing. That could mean you become an entrepreneur and have your own ideas about business, or you could work for a company and they pay you money for your services. You could invest your money in businesses you think might become successful and take the money you’ve put in and help it grow. For some people they have to rely on their government to help them survive.

  

But even when you have money, you have to learn how to use it well. This is known as becoming financially literate. Research suggests that two out of three people around the world are unable to understand money matters which affect their daily lives. Many governments and organisations are trying to change that.

  

A few years ago I found out there were lots and lots of animal words which could be used to help make the business world less scary and help people understand their money better. I teamed up with an illustrator called Dominic Bailey and we started to investigate for our book called Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms. A bestiary is a word that emerged in Medieval times and is a type of animal reference book.

  

We discovered that business beasts pop up everywhere. As well as the piggy bank at home, you’ve got Bear Markets – which happens when stocks and shares fall – and Bull Markets – which happen when the price of stocks and shares are on the rise. Cash Cows are named because they are products that are always able to make money somehow. And when the coronavirus pandemic started to spread around the world, there were people who would stockpile essential items like toilet paper and pasta. It turns out there is a German word called Hamsterkauf which was ideally suited to describe what was going on. Hamsterkauf translates to ‘hamster purchase’ and is another phrase for panic buying.

  

There are animal terms for the way people behave too when it comes to their investments. Meerkats are constantly on the lookout and want to know just how well their money is doing, while Sheep investors find it hard to figure out just what they actually want. There are even terms relating to workers and technology. A Unicorn company, for example, is one that’s worth $1bn, while someone who was down for the Lobster Shift in a newsroom, knew they’d be up all night working.

  

The world’s economy is something that’s really important. It’s about how different governments, organisations, people, at all levels manage money and other financial resources they have access to. Sometimes it seems like it can be a very closed off world but any steps that can be made to make it easier to understand are being celebrated. Even animals like ours…

  

Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms is published by Portico, an imprint of Pavilion Books


Voice of Dhruti Shah


Award-winning journalist, writer, producer and storyteller. Well versed in creating digital strategies from scratch, development, presenting, newsgathering, giving social media accounts a unique voice, verification and debunking fake news, training, coaching and motivating young journalists. I am innately curious and have written on subjects including technology, business, women changing the world, comics, science and much more. I have a wealth of editorial experience built up first in local papers before jumping to global newsrooms. I have led record-making BBC international partnership projects. I’m always up for an adventure. I’ve been described as an ‘ideas factory’ and have a knack for spotting unusual ideas which audiences like.

Writer - Dhruti Shah

Illustrator - Dominic Bailey

]]>Fri, 25 Jun 2021 14:02:56 +0400<![CDATA[My VoFG Writing Journey - the voice of Saira Thomas]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/my-vofg-writing-journey-the-voice-of-saira-thomasIt all started at the beginning of 2020, when I was in 4th Grade. One day, my English teacher asked if I was interested in participating in a story writing competition. I was thrilled because story writing is something that I enjoy a lot.]]>

It all started at the beginning of 2020, when I was in 4th Grade. One day, my English teacher asked if I was interested in participating in a story writing competition. I was thrilled because story writing is something that I enjoy a lot.

 

Once I went through all the instructions and guidelines for writing a VoFG story, I knew that I wanted to write about animals because I love them a lot. However, it was on a trip along the desert highway that I found the inspiration for my story. The usual scene of camels resting under a Ghaf Tree made me wonder…. “What if..there were a few more trees? Would we have found birds and other animals too in the desert?” Soon, ‘The Green Warrior’, the story of Salma and her determination to create a safe habitat for animals was formed.

 

My teacher was excited to read my story and submitted it in the VoFG website towards the end of March . As it was an early submission, I bagged an exclusive one to one online feedback session with the VoFG team in April, where all the best parts of my story were pointed out to me and then some tips were given to improve it even more. I resubmitted my improved story later that month.

 

And then on the 12th of August came the mail that changed my world.. The Green Warrior was in the top ten stories that were being send to the international commission!!! We were all invited to the Award Ceremony at the Zabeel Ladies Club on 27th September. The Green Warrior won the award for ‘The Most Captivating Setting’. But that was not all! My joy knew no bounds when at the end of the nail-biting ceremony I was announced the Gold Medalist of the VoFG Arabia 2020. 


Voice of Saira Thomas

Saira Thomas is a bubbly, friendly girl from Our Own English High School, Sharjah . Her favourite hobby is reading and she aspires to become a world renowned author. Her dream is to popularise vegetarianism because she believes that it can make the world a better place. Saira is 10 years old.

]]>Mon, 16 Nov 2020 12:34:06 +0400<![CDATA[The SDG closest to my Heart - the voice of Huda Shaka]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/the-sdg-closest-to-my-heart-the-voice-of-huda-shakaOut of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it is Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities) that speaks the loudest to me.]]>



Out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it is Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities) that speaks the loudest to me.


Why?


Because Cities are where most people live, and where even more people will live in the future.  Making a small step towards sustainability in Cities can mean making a big difference.


Because Cities provide opportunities for people to exchange ideas and learn from each other, forging new friendships and new ventures for better futures, and I would like these opportunities to be accessible to everyone.


Because if we plan and design Sustainable Cities - what I do in my job as an urban planner - people will be healthier and happier, and our planet will be stronger and more resilient.


What if our Cities did not compete with Nature, and instead integrated with it?


What if our Cities had clean air, clean water, clean streets, and ran on clean energy?


What if our Cities were built for humans, young and old, and not for cars or for cash?


We would then have Sustainable Cities.


Favourite childhood book? The Secret Garden 
Favourite book now? Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine 
Favourite lesson as school? Science 
Favourite animal/lifeform? Zebras
Favourite hero/heroine? My dad 

Voice of Huda Shaka

Huda is passionate about influencing cities towards a more sustainable and equitable future.  She is an urban planning consultant based in Dubai, and is a thought-leader and international speaker on the topic of sustainable development in Arab cities.   Her work involves advising on city plans and infrastructure projects as well as strategic policy frameworks, from an environmental and social sustainability perspective.   A Dubai kid, Huda witnessed and learnt from the phenomenal growth and transformation of this city. After completing her university degrees abroad, she returned to the UAE in 2007 keen to make a positive impact.   Huda's multidisciplinary academic background and professional experience, combining environmental science, public health, sustainability and urban planning, and her first-hand experience of living and working in the Arab world help her to bring a unique perspective to her work.   You can read more about her work on her blog: www.thegreenurbanista.com

]]>Sun, 13 Sep 2020 10:19:29 +0400<![CDATA[Climate action and protection of life on land - the voice of Nico Roman]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/climate-action-and-protection-of-life-on-land-the-voice-of-nico-romanClimate change and biodiversity loss are real, dangerous and urgent. As children, we are trying very hard to be heard, locally and globally, to stop the suffering and losses from getting even worse.]]>

Thank you, Voices of Future Generations Arabia, for this brilliant opportunity. In this blog, I would like to argue in favour of empowering children’s voices and quality education - SDG 4 & SDG 17, as I did in May during a symposium with over 1000 online participants.

 

My name is Nico, I am 11 and go to Kings College School in Cambridge. I am a UN Child Ambassador for the SDGs, and as part of this commitment I also edit an online blog - Nico’s Natural World - with over 9000 impressions, and hundreds of followers. Please come and visit it some time.

 

It is time that we all stand up for our children’s rights - as reflected in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), especially Articles 24 and 29 that promise us a healthy environment and education about nature, and also Articles 12 to 13 that guarantee us a voice in decisions that concern us.

 

Our future, and the futures of all species on Earth, concern us! They really do!

 

I might be only a small child, but I know that advancing the world’s SDGs, especially SDG 13 on Climate Action and SDG 15 to Protect Life on Land, makes the difference between a terrible global nightmare, and the future we want.

 

Even as our whole world is locked in frightening quarantines and curfews from the global COVID-19 pandemic, we can and must still speak out for our Earth, and for future generations of all species.

 

Climate change and biodiversity loss are real, dangerous and urgent.

As children, we are trying very hard to be heard, locally and globally, to stop the suffering and losses from getting even worse.

 

Even though we cannot vote, as children we already face the consequences of terrible climate change worldwide, including new viruses emerging, and old diseases returning, with impacts on our health and on the safely of everyone we love.

And we will face far, far worse in the future.

 

Currently, some decision-makers are doing the exact opposite,

backing up failing aviation and oil industries, which are causing the problem!

 

This is horribly unfair - it is a violation of climate justice!

  

The CRC promises us a healthy environment and this right means that willful destruction of natural habitats, without any regard for the plants and animals, nor for all future generations… just needs to stop.

 

We live in a climate emergency, and it will get worse if we can’t all work together, rather than re-starting all the harmful practices, and calling it recovery!

 

We also live in a biodiversity emergency, with thousands of species already lost, and many more at risk of going extinct forever—unless we all help to protect nature recovery when we plan economic recovery!

 

We must make sure our leaders tackle the climate and biodiversity crises with the same strength and unity they have shown us with the novel coronavirus pandemic, instead of ignoring it until everything is just too late!

 

If we want to make a difference, we must scale up our understanding, our education and our voices!

 

We need new guardian laws, institutions and networks.

The world after the COVID-19 pandemic needs to take children’s fears and interests much more seriously.

 

I am pleading for every single leader, including everyone reading online, to help us find new ways to stop the urgent threats of climate change and biodiversity loss, just as you promised in the SDGs.

 

Our rights are being directly infringed by current policies, laws and decisions – locally, nationally and internationally.

 

Even the smallest child CAN make a BIG difference, towards a more sustainable world for us all.

Voice of Nico Roman

Nico Roman (11), UN Child Ambassador for the SDGs, Voices of Future Generations Children’s Rights Initiative; Co-Chair, Cambridge Schools Eco-Council & YR6 Student, King’s College School (Cambridge)

]]>Mon, 24 Aug 2020 11:09:55 +0400<![CDATA[Sea-Turtle Rescue in the UAE - the voice of Gerhaud Beukes ]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/sea-turtle-rescue-in-the-uae-the-voice-of-gerhaud-beukesMany a life lesson has been taught to me by the animals that I have been fortunate enough to work with in my 23- year career as a Marine Biologist. Now ]]>

Jumeirah Group at the forefront of turtle rehabilitation.


Many a life lesson has been taught to me by the animals that I have been fortunate enough to work with in my 23- year career as a Marine Biologist.

Nowhere has this been more apparent than here in the U.A.E, where Jumeirah Group proudly supports and provides resources for the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project’s work with critically endangered stranded sea-turtles, requiring human intervention.  As an indicator species, their abundance, distribution, and health in the ecosystem are reflective of local environmental conditions. 

Every year we are in awe of the resilience of these amazing reptiles, that have been around for eons, for despite all that is being thrown at them, in the face of adversity, they continue to adapt to the increasing anthropogenic pressures cast upon them.  We also witness more and more youth partaking in and being vociferous in the need for all to subscribe to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and in our case, particularly SDG-14-Life below water. 

Now, more than ever, we need the Voice of Future Generations to be heard, as we grapple with important issues affecting not only the future of the turtles, but also our very own. 

As one of the cornerstones of our mission is to educate the youth about the plight of sea-turtles globally, we are fortunate to be in a position to regularly engage meaningfully with them here at the project. We eagerly look forward to reading inspiring stories of these magnificent, ancient, ocean-dwelling mariners and their fight for survival, as seen through the eyes of the next generation of ocean ambassadors!


Favourite childhood book? Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe. 

Favourite book right now? Voyage of the Turtle, Carl Safina.

Favourite lesson at school? Biology.

Favourite animal/lifeform? Too close to call between turtles and penguins.

Favourite hero/heroine? Ocean Elder, Dr. Sylvia Earle.




 

Gerhard Beukes, self-confessed Thalassophile, is the late director of the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project, based at Jumeirah’s Burj Al Arab hotel, in Dubai, where his team has successfully rehabilitated and released 1856 sea turtles since project inception.

]]>Fri, 07 Aug 2020 13:56:09 +0400<![CDATA[International Day for Indigenous People - the voice of Tony Juniper ]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/international-day-for-indigeonus-people-the-voice-of-tony-juniperOur world today is a tapestry woven of threads of history, culture and ideas that stretch back to dawn of humankind.    I live in England, and ]]>


Our world today is a tapestry woven of threads of history, culture and ideas that stretch back to dawn of humankind. 

 

I live in England, and sometimes try to imagine what people who lived here thousands of years ago would have thought and believed. I wonder if they might have been like some of the people I have met on my travels in the tropical rainforests, living in tribal groups, hunting game and collecting wild fruits and vegetables. Those people today still depend directly on the natural world, and that is why they treat the forest with reverence. Their Gods often take the form of animals.

 

In the modern world, where the vast majority of us do not regard ourselves as ‘indigenous’ and mostly live in towns and cities, peoples nonetheless still rely on Nature for their wellbeing. For our food, water, air and spiritual renewal, we depend on the cycles and processes of the Biosphere, just as much as Indians who dwell in the depths of the Amazon rainforests. 

 

As we face the twin threats of climate change and ecosystem collapse, we might do well to seek inspiration from the peoples who once lived in lands now transformed by modern humans. What was their culture, who were their Gods, what was the land like thousands of years ago, when they lived where we live today? What would their leaders have said about pollution and the destruction of Nature? 

 

Might their views be relevant today, and if so, perhaps we should listen more to the remaining indigenous peoples. Their message might tell us something profoundly important, including the fact that even those of us living in the highest skycrapers are still children of Nature.



Favourite childhood book? Observers Book of Birds’ Eggs

Favourite book right now? The Great Fen by Alan Bowley

Favourite lesson at school? Biology

Favourite animal/lifeform? Common Swift

Favourite hero/heroine? Chico Mendes


Tony Juniper CBE is Chair of the official Nature conservation agency Natural England. He is the author of many books, including What has Nature ever done for us? (2013) and Rainforest (2018). He has worked with many conservation organisations, including as the Director of Friends of the Earth, President of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and Executive Director at WWF. He is a former sustainability advisor to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.


]]>Tue, 04 Aug 2020 07:28:26 +0400<![CDATA[The voice of DrJane Goodall]]>https://vofg.vofgarabia.org/blogs/post/the-voice-of-jane-goodallVOFG provides a wonderful opportunity to encourage and inspire young people to communicate their passion for the issues that interest them – the natur ]]>

VOFG provides a wonderful opportunity to encourage and inspire young people to communicate their passion for the issues that interest them – the natural world, the right of children, or animals and so on - through the powerful medium of words.  It highlights the importance of getting our youth to take an interest in sustainable development and voice their opinions on the most pressing issues and obstacles that threaten and hinder our planet and its inhabitants; and how desperately important it is to protect and restore the natural world for future generations to come.

  

I strongly support this project and look forward to seeing it develop. I encourage all youth to take up the challenge in this creative field of expression and thought.  From the age of ten I have always wanted to write articles and books and poems about the things I care about.


Voice of Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE 

Founder - the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace


Favourite childhood book?   The Story of Doctor Doolitte (and other stories in the Series)

Favourite book right now?    The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien

Favourite lesson at school?   English Literature.

Favourite animal/lifeform?   Dog.

Favourite hero/heroine?       Winston Churchill.


Jane Goodall is the world’s best-known female scientist. She started studying chimpanzees in 1960 in Gombe Tanzania, where research continues today. The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) was founded in 1977 and there are now JGI offices in 27 counties. In 1991 she formed Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, a programme that empowers young people of all ages to undertake projects for their local community, for animals and for the environment, and is now active in more than 60 countries. In 1994 Jane formed TACARE (Take Care) which is a community-centred conservation and development programme which partners with communities around Gombe to create sustainable livelihoods while promoting conservation goals.

Dr Goodall’s numerous awards and honorary degrees include France’s Order of the Legion d’Honneur, the Medal of Tanzania and Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize. In 2002 Jane was appointed to serve as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and in 2003 she was named a Dame of the British Empire. She is author of many books and has featured in many films and documentaries around the world.

]]>Sun, 14 Jun 2020 15:12:39 +0400