H PROGRA UT MM YO E SCOUTING AND THE ENVIRONMENT SCOUTING AND THE ENVIRONMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTI0N 1 2. B-P ORIGINS OF THE M0VEMENT – ORIGINAL PROMISE AND PRACTICE 3 2.1 BADEN-POWELL AND NATURE 3 2.2 THE ORIGINAL PROMISE AND LAW 3 2.3 EARLY PRACTICE 3 3. WORLD SCOUTING’S POLICY: CONSTITUTION OF WOSM AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE WORLD SCOUT CONFERENCE 5 3.1 CONSTITUTION OF WOSM 5 3.2 RESOLUTIONS OF THE WORLD SCOUT CONFERENCE 6 4. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND ACTION: CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE 7 4.1 FROM THE EDUCATIONAL POINT OF VIEW: CONTRIBUTION TO THE PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE 7 4.2 FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE 9 5. EVOLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION OVER THE PAST DECADES 11 5.1 THE POSITIVE SIDE: SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS 11 5.1.1 Historical perspective 11 5.1.2 Conceptual development 11 5.1.3 Legal instruments: multilateral or international environmental agreements 14 5.1.4 Increasing awareness 14 5.2 ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE: THREATS AND DANGERS 17 5.3 THE RACE BETWEEN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRENDS: A STRUGGLE AGAINST TIME 18 6. HIGHLIGHTS OF DEVELOPMENTS 1967-1988 21 7. MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: 1989-2000 23 7.1 PERIOD LEADING TO THE NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (1989-1991) 23 7.1.1 Cooperation with UNEP 23 7.1.2 Cooperation with WWF International 23 7.1.3 Distribution of publication “Caring for the Earth – A Strategy for Sustainable Living” 24 7.1.4 Publication of “Help to Save the World” and “Scouting: Action for the Environment” 24 7.1.5 World Scout Environment Year 25 7.1.6 Research and Development Committee 26 7.2 THE NATURE AND ENVIRONEMENT PROGRAMME (1992-1998) 28 7.2.1 World Scout Environment Network 28 7.2.2 Conversion of WSEN into READY 30 7.2.3 Publications 32 7.2.4 Global Development Village 33 7.2.5 SCENES 36 7.2.6 Innovative initiatives from National Scout Associations 39 7.2.7 Evaluation of the Nature and Environment Programme 40 7.3 FOLLOW-UP OF THE NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME AND INITIATIVES FROM THE GRASS-ROOTS LEVEL GENERATED BY THE PROJECT 41 7.3.1 Materials disseminated to National Scout Organizations 41 7.3.2 Scout Environmental Newsletter 42 7.3.3 International cooperation project between Netherlands and South Africa 42 7.3.4 New SCENES Centre in Mafikeng 43 8. PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE 45 8.1. DYNAMISM OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 45 8.1.1 Technological progress 45 8.1.2 The social perspective 45 8.2 SCOUTING’S OWN INTERNAL DYNAMISM 46 9. CONCLUSION 49 REFERENCES 51 ANNEX I: RESOLUTIONS OF THE WORLD SCOUT CONFERENCE DEALING WITH ENVIRONMENT AND NATURE CONSERVATION 57 ANNEX II: HIGHLIGHTS OF SCOUTING’S INVOLVEMENT IN CONSERVATION / ENVIRONMENT ACTIVITIES OVER THE PERIOD 1967-1988 63 ANNEX III: EXAMPLES OF CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD 1991-2002 71 World Organization of the Scout Movement Organisation Mondiale du Mouvement Scout © World Scout Bureau, 2002 2nd Edition, revised and expanded. Reproduction is authorized to National Scout Organizations which are members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Others should request permission from the publishers. World Scout Bureau P.O. Box 241 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland [email protected] http://www.scout.org “Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy... Try to leave this world a little better than you found it” Baden-Powell, Last Message to the Scouts of the World “For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the forest is at once a laboratory, a club and a temple” Baden-Powell, Rovering to Success, Herbert Jenkins Ltd. London, 1922 As the world enters a new century and a new millennium, the 1. INTRODUCTION environmental problems facing mankind have moved to centre stage. Every year, every month, pessimistic assessments of the earth’s health are published by the United Nations, research centres and universities, opinion leaders and politicians in many countries. They are conveyed throughout the world by radio, television, newspapers and Internet. As a consequence, the awareness of the importance of keeping the environment clean, of not threatening the survival of future generations in order to satisfy the needs and the “wants” of the present generation, has soared in recent years. However, it is important to recognize that “…we have far to go to bring clean water to a billion people, to slow the loss of thousands of species, and to meet our energy needs without destabilizing the atmosphere1 It is equally important to understand that no society, no country has yet embarked on the ambitious turnaround strategies that will make today’s societies “sustainable”.2 The reason, it is submitted, is three-fold: 1. Because those strategies are painful and expensive. Therefore, they can be implemented only by governments with the full support of the populations concerned. 2. Because they imply a shift in values and consequently a shift in behaviour and this needs not only a rational conviction but also a moral commitment. 3. Because, this is therefore a matter of education and education is a long process, particularly when it implies not only the acquisition of knowledge or skills but also the change of attitudes. Being a matter of education, it is a matter which concerns Scouting, today at the forefront of non-formal educational youth movements all over the world. This is what this reference document is all about. You have in your hands the second edition –updated and enlarged– of the document “Scouting and the Environment” published for the first time in 1992 by the Centre for Prospective Studies and Documentation of the World Scout Bureau. Scouting and the Environment - Page 1 The document – the first in the series of reference documents published by CEPRODOC – was quickly exhausted in English and French and was subsequently published in German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish versions. Much has happened since 1992, both in Scouting and in the world at large. The main changes introduced in this second version are dictated by the need to take into account new trends and events, and very particularly in two fields: – in Scouting, with the Nature and Environment Programme, its preparatory phase, its implementation and its follow-up, which have been an important milestone in the Movement, and – outside Scouting, with the sweeping changes that the world has experienced: with globalization, the interdependence of nations has become deeper, the concept of security is now conceived in its widest sense, including the security of peoples and of the planet, and with the explosive growth of electronic communication media, people can link up with each other across the globe in a few seconds. To integrate those changes, several new sections have been created – for instance, section 5 and section 7– and, for the sake of coherence, they appear now fully integrated within a new Table of Contents. Needless to say, already existing sections have been updated to give full account of recent events. We invite, therefore, the reader to examine with us the changing panorama of “environment” both within and outside Scouting. But, as B-P said “Play-don’t look on”3 we expect the reader to gain inspiration and strength from these pages and become actively engaged in the conservation of our planet. Individually and collectivelly, there is a place for each one in the task of saving our common heritage: the planet Earth and delivering it to future generations. Scouting and the Environment - Page 2 All the writings of the founder of the Scout Movement are permeated 2. B-P ORIGINS OF THE with a profound love of nature and respect for all natural phenomena. MOVEMENT – One of the most recurrent themes in Baden-Powell’s books is systematic emphasis laid on the importance of observing the wonderful processes ORIGINAL PROMISE of nature, understanding them and protecting them, as part of the AND PRACTICE basic education of the boy. Considering that he was writing over 70 years ago, his views on the subject are extraordinarily prophetic! 2.1 BADEN-POWELL AND NATURE Thus, B-P subtitled his most famous book Scouting for Boys, “a handbook for instruction in good citizenship through woodcraft”, and he defined woodcraft as being the “knowledge of animals and nature”.4 There are admirable pages written by the Founder where he attempts to give concrete advice to Cubs, Scouts, Rovers and leaders on what to do and what to avoid on outings and camping. But perhaps the best way to summarize the feelings of admiration and reverence that B-P had about nature is to quote this paragraph, addressed to Rover Scouts. Talking about the forest, B-P wrote: “...And yet in it all there is life and sensation, reproduction, death and evolution going on steadily under the same great law by which we... are governed. Man and his Nature–comrades among the forest plants and creatures. For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the forest is at once a laboratory, a club and a temple”.5 2.2 THE ORIGINAL There is little doubt that the entire pedagogical approach of B-P was PROMISE AND LAW both nature-based and nature-oriented. It is not surprising, therefore, that when it came to the formulation of the original Law, Baden-Powell included in it one article dealing with nature: “A Scout is a friend to animals”.