Dear Fellow ROTIans,

The Environment Fellowship of Rotarians (EFR) invites you to share your stories of the highlights of the most successful environmental Rotary projects you have realized or know of. We shall also share the best at the Rotary International Convention in Los Angeles on June 14-18 2008.

Among the membership of our Environment Fellowship we do have a number of us ROTIans. When you go to the Rotary International website www.rotary.org and then search for Preserve Planet Earth , you will find the reasons for our existence. That page explains that improving the environment has been central to Rotary service from the early days of our organisation: with Paul Harris planting trees in many places that he visited. Since then, Rotarians have become involved in many types of environmental projects, clearing streams and rivers, recycling waste products, creating parks and woodlands in so very many parts of the world. In 1990 Rotary adopted officially Preserve Planet Earth as an avenue of service to promote awareness among Rotarians and increase the number of environmental service projects undertaken by Rotary Clubs. The Environment Fellowship of Rotarians invites and unites all Rotarians, their spouses, and Rotaractors, who are very interested and/or have a vocation in our Environment. Their interest can be general or specialized. They so contribute towards building an environment of Peace and Sustainable Development. If asked, the EFR provides valuable information which will be helpful to the club when deciding and carrying out their environmental projects. The EFR is not here to alone tackle the massive environmental issues such as global warming, loss of the ozone layer or air pollution, and many others, but all Rotary projects certainly always greatly contribute towards definitely improving the situation and truly solving the problem long-term ! It encourages every Rotary club worldwide to develop at least one environmental project every year.

Besides international projects, the EFR also engages in regional Rotary projects, because its membership thinks globally and act locally also with such projects as :

• Assist poor communities to obtain safe water and sanitation systems
• Support the creation of urban gardens, parks, woodlands and greenbelts
• Arrange a cleanup day along a river, lake or ocean shore in your community
• Organise a community program to collect and sort glass, paper products and other recyclable items
• Support innovative educational programs that emphasise the importance and interdependence of the ecosystem
• Giving awards to local businesses or industries for ecologically sound extraction, production, design, packaging and waste disposal practices While these may seem small projects which will not change the world right away, these and many more will contribute Preserving Planet Earth, especially also because, if the wider community and children in particular are involved, the EFR improves minds.

Among Examples of Current Projects are several that may be relevant for your club.

A club in the North of England distributed acorns, plant pots and potting compost to 100 school children. One year later 100 small oak trees were planted out in a donated area of wasteland. This has not only created a small oak woodland for the future, but, just as important, it involved 100 children in a Rotary project to improve our environment.

A club in Argentina is successful with the two first stages of ' Rotary Agua Plus ' and about to start the 3rd stage of this project that installs water filters to make available drinking water in hospitals, schools and neighborhoods where the need is greatest. In our world 1.200 million people have no drinking water available, and this project has the potential to reduce this number. It is a combined effort between the local Rotary and Rotaract Clubs with a Matching Grant from TRF, UNICEF, other NGOs, and the Government.

Yes, the EFR also acts as a forum where Rotary Clubs can find out what other clubs are doing. Rotarians can so learn from others' experience, will be able to ask for help and support if they feel that the project is relevant to them or to more than their own club or district, and we'll be happy to be able to offer advise. While the EFR may not know all the answers, it usually know who can help and will be able to put you in contact.

Since the field of the environment is so large and so very interdependent, the EFR remains a Rotary Fellowship, but it proactively promotes the formation of Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs) in different fields of the environment. The Environment Fellowship of Rotarians ' invites all Rotarians who are very interested in forming a RAG to go ahead and do so, and will support them. If and when a Rotarian will wish to consider forming an environmental RAG, the EFR answers the specific questions on how to do it, and it will be happy to facilitate by sharing the relevant experience and information.

Yes, the ' Environmet Fellowship of Rotarians ' , is continuing to promote ' Preserve Planet Earth ' , which had been started thanks to the proactive dedication and great vision of our PRIP Paulo Costa, and ROTIans are welcome to start RAGs on environmental subjects they have a passion for. The Environment Fellowship of Rotarians now suggests and facilitates the creation Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs) in 10 major fields/areas of the Environment. To achieve this, it does encourage Rotarians to take the initiative by indicating their interest to kappenberger@gmail.com , and it will put them in contact with each-other, and offer them as much information and support as possible.

Aware of the interdependence of all areas of the environment, and because a RAG on water & sanitation does already exist, while knowing that a RAG on sustainable tourism is already in preparation, the Environment Fellowship of Rotarians encourages all Rotarians ,and now ROTIans in particular, interested in participating in forming environmental Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs) within any of the following 10 main areas of interests, to contact the Chair of the Environment Fellowship, Marco Kappenberger.

Whenever possible in cooperation with Rotary Clubs, Rotarian Action Groups conduct international service projects in particular areas of service that enhance the Object of Rotary. If this is of special interest to you, please do let us know which of the following areas or related subjects you are most interested in, and we'll put you in contact with the other Rotarians with the same interests.

The proposed 10 areas of interest in which Rotarian Action Groups are being formed are:

• RAG Agriculture ( Organic Gardering, Food Production, Composting, etc.)
• RAG Built Environment ( Bioarchitecture, Feng-Shui, Materials Indoor, Green Builders using also Straw Bales, Materials Indoor, etc.)
• RAG Education ( Environmental-, Consulting, etc.)
• RAG Energy (Alternative-, Renewable Energies, etc.)
• RAG Forestry ( Reforestation, Deforestation, Fighting desertification, etc.)
• RAG Health ( Nutrition-, Community-, etc.)
• RAG Pollution ( -control, , Industrial-, Pulp-Paper, etc.)
• RAG Climate Change (Global warming awareness)
• RAG Waste (Recycling etc.)( -management, -treatment, -recycling,, -culture, Promoting Zero Waste, etc.)
• RAG Wildlife ( Bird-, Conservation, Marine Environment, etc.)

In any of the above-mentioned 10 areas of interest, the Environmental Fellowship of Rotarians will bring together all Rotarians interested in forming Rotarian Action Groups for a better environment and sustainable development.

Who wishes to get together to start them is naturally welcome to form and propose to RI the Rotarian Action Groups of their choice, adapting their names and possibly specializing them as wished. All of these environmental activities of these soon-to-be-formed Rotarian Action Groups will have heopportunity to greatly serve humankind with projects through this new dimension the RAGs offer to Rotarians, supported also by The Rotary Foundation as well as good sources outside of Rotary that are available, serving locally and globally where the need is greatest, but they will also generate employment, stimulate investment in infrastructure and finally have a long-range beneficial effect especially also on the local environment, quality of life and economy, as they effectively help us progress towards the object of Rotary.

Marco Kappenberger
Rotary E-Club of Latinoamérica, Secretary 2007-9, District 4200
President, Environment Fellowship of Rotarians
Former ROTI Board Member
kappenberger@gmail.com
Honorary Consulate General of Switzerland
247, Apia, Samoa

Back to the BreadBasket Menu