The Barbados Boy Scouts Association (BBSA) is venturing into a new partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for an environmental project under the global initiative, Green Skills for Youth-led Climate Action.
Chief Commissioner of the BBSA Trevor Jones revealed that Barbados is among eight countries worldwide selected to pilot the initiative.
The project will focus on three core areas: environmental protection, sustainable gardening, and reforestation.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Jones explained that participants leading the project in their respective countries were first required to undergo training and then tasked with naming the initiative. Barbados’ project is titled A Greener Barbados: Scouts for Sustainability.
“In the first part of the programme, we will be looking at at least four beach cleanups and two gully cleanups, and a number of workshops in various communities, talking about proper waste disposal and recycling,” said Jones.
As part of the sustainable gardening component, Scouts will encourage Barbadians to embrace container gardening or use available backyard space.
“We will be offering workshops on how to do it, and we will be developing and distributing a number of starter kits. So you will get a kit from us that has this soil mix and two seedlings and instructions on how to plant them,” he explained.
The reforestation phase will involve planting more trees across the island.
Jones noted that while the specific beaches for cleanup have not yet been identified, teams have already begun training and are expected to complete it within the next week.
He proudly announced that the project is being led by a youth leader.
“The person that is in charge of that section, Environmental Protection, he’s one of our young leaders. He is only 28, and he will be piloting that environmental protection. They will be partnering with the Ministry of the Environment, and we are also looking to partner with a number of other organisations that do cleanups.”
The Chief Commissioner added that while a definite start date has not been confirmed, the association hopes to launch the initiative by the second weekend in May.
(LG)
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