Subject: INFOTERRA: UNEP Global 500 Awards
X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.54)
Precedence: bulk
Sender: owner-infoterra@cedar.univie.ac.at
Reply-To: "Robert Bisset" 
Status: R



UNEP News Release

For information only.  Not an official record.


         MAYOR OF MOSCOW, AMONG 23 INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
               TO RECEIVE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT AWARD
            AT WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATIONS IN MOSCOW

NAIROBI, 25 May 1998 -- The United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP) announced today that 23 individuals and organizations from 19 
countries have been elected to the prestigious ranks of its Global 
500 Roll of Honour, for their outstanding contributions to the 
protection of the environment.

       Each of these success stories will be officially recognized on 
5 June 1998 at a special award ceremony in Moscow.  The event, hosted 
by UNEP, the City of Moscow and the Russian Federation, is part of 
this year's World Environment Day celebrations.

       Among the laureates who will receive their award from UNEP's 
Executive Director, Mr. Klaus Toepfer, are: Aga Akbar, a zookeeper 
from Afghanistan who lived 18 terrible months on the front lines 
rather than abandon his charges; Mike Anane, a journalist from Ghana 
whose gutsy articles brought to the fore the alarming rate of 
environmental destruction in his country; Sylvia Earle of the United 
States of America for her lifelong commitment to deep sea  
exploration; Yasuo Goto a business leader from Japan for making the 
environment an integral part of his company's policies; Greening 
Australia for rehabilitating the country's vegetation; Jae-Bum Kim of 
the Republic of Korea for his unwavering commitment to educating 
young people about the environment; Feodor Konyukhov, an 
environmental globetrotter from the Russian Federation, who only uses 
environment-friendly modes of transport to promote the sustainable 
use of the Earth's resources; Yuri Luzhkov, Mayor of the City of 
Moscow, for his commitment to sustainable urban development; Yongshun 
Ma, a retired lumberman from the People's Republic of China, who has 
devoted the last part of his life to planting trees; and Don Merton 
of New Zealand for devising methods to improve the survival of
bird species facing extinction.

       The list of winners also includes six Global 500 Youth 
Environment Award laureates who, despite their young age, have 
understood the sanctity of life on Earth.  Among these youth winners
are Ecole Propre/Ecole Verte, an environmental education programme 
which, in five short years, has taken root in 92 schools throughout 
Guinea with more than 20,000 students participating; and Akima
Paul of Grenada for raising environmental awareness on her Caribbean 
Island.

       "These environmental defenders have demonstrated that it is at 
the community and local level where action to protect the environment 
acquires its full meaning.  In honouring them, UNEP hopes that their 
examples will inspire and guide many other men, women and young 
people to join the global coalition dedicated to protecting the 
environment", said Mr. Toepfer.

       Some 664 individuals and organizations, in both adult and 
youth categories, have been honoured since UNEP launched the Global 
500 award in 1987.  Among prominent past winners are: the late French 
marine explorer Jacques Cousteau; Ms. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former 
Prime Minister of Norway; Ken Saro-Wiwa, the environmental and human 
rights activist from Nigeria who was executed for leading the 
resistance of the Ogoni People against the pollution of their delta
homeland; the World Wide Fund for Nature; Jimmy Carter, former 
President of the United States of America; Jane Goodall of the United 
Kingdom whose research on wild chimpanzees and olive baboons provided 
insight into the lives of non-human primates; and the late Chico 
Mendes, the Brazilian rubber tapper who was murdered during his fight 
to save the Amazon forest.

       UNEP looks to the world community to identify and nominate 
environmental advocates, so that they too can be recognized for their 
efforts.  Nominations can be obtained from UNEP's Headquarters, 
Global 500 Roll of Honour, Information and Public Affairs Branch, P. 
O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, as well as from UNEP's regional 
offices.

                                         *******


            LIST OF UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP)
                          1998 GLOBAL 500 LAUREATES


ADULT CATEGORY

Aga Akbar                           Afghanistan
Mike Anane                          Ghana
Stephen O. Andersen                 United States of America
Melih Boydak                        Turkey
Valery Demianenko                   Ukraine
Sylvia Earle                        United States of America
Yasuo Goto                          Japan
Greening Australia                  Australia
Jae-Bum Kim                         Republic of Korea
Feodor Konyukhov                    Russian Federation
Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov           Russian Federation
Yongshun Ma                         People's Republic of China
Anne Mearns                         Republic of South Africa
Don Merton                          New Zealand
Zygfryd Nowak                       Poland
Oeuvre de Bienfaisance pour Haiti   Haiti
Yiannakis D. Potamitis              Cyprus

YOUTH CATEGORY

P. B. K. L. Agyirey-Kwakye          Ghana
Ecole Propre/Ecole Verte            Guinea
Hellenic Marine Environment
 Protection Association (HELMEPA)   Greece
Leave It To Us Junior Board         United Kingdom
Akima Paul                          Grenada
Red Scarf Environmental
 Protection Action Group            People's Republic of China




                                                                      
/...

                                           -3-
Note to Editors

       Aga Akbar is a lanky zookeeper who, during the fighting in 
Afghanistan, lived 18 terrible months on the front lines rather than 
abandon his charges. Through the worst of the fighting, Akbar
stayed.  He spent hours huddled beneath a slab of stone waiting for 
the rocketing to stop.  He never left because he loved these animals. 
 The front line is now on the southern outskirts of Kabul, and
the relative peace has been a chance for him to clean-up the zoo. 
Hundreds of pieces of unexploded ordinance have been hauled away, a 
mountain of shrapnel swept up and a half dozen anti-personnel
mines removed.  Still living on the grounds, Akbar devotes his time 
to the animals who survived.  They are his family.  What Akbar lacks 
in expertise he makes up in compassion.

       Mike Anane, an environmental journalist, has greatly 
contributed to raising environmental awareness in Ghana.  His 
campaigns calling for the closure of an asbestos products factory 
shook the country's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the 
Ministry of Environment from their slumber.  His articles dealing 
with toxic waste earned him many enemies who threatened his life.
Undaunted, he went on to challenge the Parliament and the EPA to 
investigate the matter.  Their inquiry concurred with Anane's 
findings and they recommended that the culprits be punished. Anane
established in Accra an International Centre for Environmental 
Journalism, which seeks to motivate the media to take a more serious 
interest in the environment. As founder of the League of
Environmental Journalists in Ghana, he organizes workshops to equip 
journalists to report on the environment, since neither of the 
country's two media-training institutions offer courses in
environmental reporting.

       Sylvia Earle's PhD dissertation created a sensation in the 
oceanographic community in 1966. Never before had a marine scientist 
made such a detailed first-hand study of aquatic life. Since then,
she has made a lifelong project of cataloguing every species of plant 
that can be found in the Gulf of Mexico. She has led more than 50 
expeditions.  In 1969, Earle participated in the Tektite project
where scientists lived for weeks in an enclosed habitat on the ocean 
floor, and in 1970, she led the all-female Tektite II expedition. In 
1979, she walked untethered on the ocean floor at a lower depth
than any human before or since. With the aim of making the public 
aware of the damage being done to the aquasphere, Earle has become an 
outspoken advocate of undersea research, and has written for
National Geographic and produced numerous books and films.

       Yasuo Goto, Chairman of the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance 
Company, is a business leader who always includes the environment in 
his company's policies. Since 1993, more than 3,000 people have 
participated in environmental awareness courses, organized by Yasuda 
in collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  Yasuda 
has reduced the use of natural resources by implementing an 
environmental management system. In November 1997, its computer 
centre became the first financial institution in Japan to be 
certified in conformity with ISO14001. Today, it is providing other 
organizations with the know-how to obtain certification.  In 1992, he 
led the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) 
delegation to the Earth Summit in Brazil, where he represented some 
1,000 companies.  Soon after, the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund 
(KNCF) was established and Goto appointed its Chairman. KNCF has  
supported 71 conservation projects, implemented by NGOs, in 23 
countries. KNCF also hosts seminars to educate Japanese business
leaders on nature conservation. KNCF has been lauded as a shining 
example of partnership between business and NGOs.

       Greening Australia is a national, community-based organization 
working with Australians to rehabilitate and manage Australia's 
vegetation.  Activities include the National Tree and the One
Billion Trees Programmes through which more than 800 million trees 
have been planted. In 1996 and 1997, Greening Australia protected or 
regenerated 8,194 hectares of vegetation and planted 5,000 hectares 
of trees and shrubs. During the same period, its staff worked with 
3,000 landcare and community groups and more than 500 local 
organizations; conducted 300 public presentations; and delivered more 
than 8,000 hours of training to landowners, schools, councils and 
community groups. Since 1982, Greening Australia has developed and 
implemented vegetation programmes for four national governments.

       Jae-Bum Kim is one of the most active leaders of the 
environmental movement in the Republic of Korea. His activities began 
when he used his scuba diving skills to clean rivers and streams and 
by convincing fellow divers to become part of the environmental 
movement.  In 1991, he set up and became Executive Director of the 
`Clear Water Revival' organization which initiated an underwater 
clean-up campaign.  As a professor of journalism, he also realizes 
the importance of educating young people about the environment. In 
1994, he formed the Green Family Movement through which green 
activities are undertaken by schools, from kindergarten to 
universities. More than 40,000 students in 316 schools are active 
members of this movement.

       Feodor Konyukhov is an environmental globetrotter who only 
uses environmentally-friendly modes of transport, such as sailboats, 
bicycles, skis, sleds and balloons. His aim is to promote the
sustainable use of the Earth's natural resources and the ethics of 
living in harmony with nature. Konyukhov will soon be sailing solo 
around the globe in a campaign to clean-up the oceans from
plastic garbage.  He is one of the few people to have reached both 
the North and South Poles, crossed the Arctic Ocean, climbed mount 
Everest, sailed twice around the world, and cycled across Asia and
Europe.  All of this in an effort to raise environmental awareness 
and to bring attention to environmental issues. 

       Yuri Luzhkov is a leader committed to sustainable urban 
development and whose campaign promises have already begun to 
materialize.  He has removed environmentally-unsafe industries from
the capital and established an environmental procurator's office as 
well as a special police department for environmental protection for 
the Moscow region. He has contributed to the stabilization of air
pollution from cars by improving fuel quality, equipment of municipal 
transport by installing catalytic converters, and the flow of traffic 
by altering the City's routes.  Luzhkov has placed a full ban on
the use of leaded fuel and has set new standards on the construction 
of ring highways which must meet certain environmental requirements.  
He also established a new policy whereby the use of coal in thermal 
power plants and by large industries has been replaced by natural 
gas.  As a result, carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced 
significantly.  He has enforced the law requiring the renewal
of purifying systems in industrial plants and has changed the way in 
which galvanic processes are undertaken, and centralized the use of 
galvanic waste, thus reducing the level of heavy metals in the
Moscow River.

       Yongshun Ma was a lumberman in China.  When he retired in 
1982, people encouraged him to relax during his last days. His 
response was always "I cannot until I have paid off a debt".  He felt
that had he not overlogged, if he had paid more attention to 
protecting the environment, there would not have been so much 
environmental degradation. He decided to devote the last part of his 
life to the protection of the environment by planting 36,500 trees to 
make up for those he had cut down. Every season, people would see him 
planting trees. In 1991, when he reached the age of 78, he counted 
that there were around 1,000 trees left to pay off his debt. He 
convinced his family, 16 people spanning three generations, to plant 
trees on holidays. At the end of that spring, at last his debt
was paid off.  By 1996, he had planted 40,000 trees. Motivated by his 
actions, more and more people in the region are planting trees and 
the forest is growing at an ever increasing rate. He has taught
others how to breed and plant successfully, and under his guidance, 
his students' tree planting efforts have a success rate of 95 per 
cent. Today, at 84, you can still see Yongshun Ma, spade in hand, 
stirring the black soil, planting trees.                             

              -5-

       Don Merton, an officer with the New Zealand Department of 
Conservation, roams the forests of the world devising plans to 
improve the survival of bird species facing extinction.  He has 
helped rescue more than a dozen birds, including the Mauritian echo 
parakeet, the Chatham Islands black robin and the New Zealand 
saddleback. In the Seychelles, he devised techniques to save the 
magpie-robin. Slow breeders that fed on the ground, the birds had 
been decimated by feral cats. By November 1992, despite a successful 
programme to eradicate predators, their numbers dwindled to 25.  
Conservationists turned to Merton, and after observing the robins, he 
discovered that the native vegetation in the birds' habitat had 
virtually disappeared and the forest did not provide enough safe
nesting places.  He suggested adjustments to supplementary feeding, 
to the positioning of nesting boxes and how to exclude other species 
from food and nesting sites.  Over the years, the species made
a remarkable recovery and today there are some 60 robins in 
existence. In Australia, zoologists are using techniques modelled on 
Merton's to rescue the helmeted honey eater.

       Ecole Propre/Ecole Verte is an environmental education 
programme, which was created in 1992, as a pilot project, in four 
primary schools in Conakry, Guinea.  Today, the project has taken
root in 92 schools with 20,000 students participating.  The 
objectives are to encourage schools to play an active role in 
promoting hygiene and environmental protection; to get students to 
spread the environmental message in their schools, families, 
neighbourhoods and villages; and to encourage parents and the 
community to take action. Through their ecological clubs, the 
students ensure that the classrooms, latrines and yard are clean and 
that flowerbeds are well managed.  They control the sale of food 
around the school and educate the community using plays, films, 
debates, radio and TV programmes and competitions.  They publish a 
bulletin whose content is produced entirely by the students and which 
is distributed nationally and internationally. Under the banner Ecole 
Quartier, the project has expanded to include other districts and 
villages.

       Fifteen-year-old Akima Paul, concerned with the state of the 
environment, began to speak out on the issues.  She began by using 
newsletters sent out by Friends of the Earth as a way of passing on 
the environmental message.  She wrote articles about the lack of care 
for the beaches of her Caribbean Island, the excessive use of plastic 
and the cutting down of trees. She then became a member of Friends of 
the Earth and enthusiastically participated in all their activities.  
She wrote articles for almost every issue of their newsletter on the 
myriad of environmental problems affecting her part of the world.  
Her strong point is that she speaks and writes with great conviction 
about issues which are close to the hearts of the Caribbean people, 
young and old alike.  To further heighten the people's awareness, she 
shares her views on radio, in inter-secondary school debates, and 
through the art form of calypso and poetry.


For further information, please contact:

Mr. Tore J. Brevik               Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox      
Director,                        Coordinator, Special Events
Information and Public Affairs   Information and Public Affairs
UNEP, P. O.Box 30552             UNEP, P. O.Box 30552
Nairobi, Kenya                   Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-2) 62 3292             Tel: (254-2) 62 3401
Fax: (254-2) 62 3927             Fax: (254-2) 62 3692
E-mail: Tore.Brevik@unep.org     Elisabeth.Guilbaud-Cox@unep.org

UNEP Web Site: http//www.unep.org

UNEP News Release 1998/32


--------------------------------------------
Robert G. Bisset                          
Media and Communications Officer          
UNEP, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya      
Tel. +254-2-623084, Fax. +254-2-623692    
Robert.Bisset@unep.org, http://www.unep.orgst.org/renewables/bioenergy-list-archive/ 
--------------------------------------------
***
***This message was generated through the IPA News Release mailing list
***. Any copy of a reply sent to Void@unep.org
***will be quietly trashed.
***
-
message sent by infoterra@cedar.univie.ac.at
to signoff from the list, send an email to
majordomo@cedar.univie.ac.at
the message body should read
unsubscribe infoterra your@email.address
-