Pupils of the Jovan Ducic primary school located in Zaluzani community in Banja Luka region marked the World Environment Day 2011 by cleaning up and beatifying the school yard and garden. The activity was initiated by the school’s Director and teachers who are eager to inform and educate their students on environmental issues.

United Nations Volunteer Svjetlana Kodzo joined the students and talked to them about importance of environmental protection and ways how they can – as ordinary citizens – become engaged in protecting the environment. She also used this opportunity to tell them about the UNV programme and her role as a Municipal Coordinator for development of Local Environment Action Plans, a part of the MDG-F Environment and Climate Change Programme. UNV is one of five United Nations agencies implementing this project in cooperation with local authorities and civil society organizations.

Svjetlana distributed various educational and promotional materials, and clean-up kits to these enthusiastic kids: “They particularly make sure to regularly clean and arrange their yard, especially because they are dealing with one inconvenient factor, i.e. unfenced area. This is a big factor in generation of waste by those who enter the yard outside of school hours.”

Following the clean-up, students went on to plant a tree in their school garden featuring a variety of tree species. During the entire school year, these primary school kids cultivate and attend to the plants in the garden, including a species of spruce tree endemic to the region, and ornamental plants in their flower garden - some of which they cultivated themselves with their teachers’ assistance. In the following months, kids also plan to design and make a small-size garden to cultivate and reproduce various herbs and plants, while the school board has already endorsed a plan to regularly implement variously environmental activities.

“This is one small, but serious example of a positive continuous practice in the field of environmental protection,” concluded UN Volunteer Svjetlana Kodzo.

World Environment Day (WED), marked annually on 5th June, is the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action. WED celebration began in 1972 and has grown to become the one of the main vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action. Celebrating WED is about the inspirational power of individual actions that collectively become an exponential force for positive change.

“Although individual decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous difference.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.