Environment Education for Ecosystem Conservation

Contents: Editors Note. 1. Environment education for ecosystem conservation/T.V. Ramachandra. 2. Ecosystem of lake Tanganyika/Jaya Naithani, Pierre-Denis Plisnier and Eric Deleersnijder. 3. Nitrogen and carbon flows through Bellandur lake -- role of Bellandur lake as a natural wetland treating Bangalore wastewater/H.N. Chanakya, B. Karthick and T.V. Ramachandra. 4. Influence of land-use changes in river basins on diversity and distribution of amphibians/K.V. Gururaja, Sameer Ali and T.V. Ramachandra. 5. Stakeholder analysis for conservation and management of Samaspur Bird Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh/Chinmay Korgaonkar and Yogesh Gokhale. 6. Solid waste eco-literacy around a lake/J. Sadhana. 7. Water literacy campaign around a lake/J. Spandana. 8. E-waste and environmental degradation/S. Suraj. 9. Faunal assemblages in Myristica swamps of Central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India/Sameer Ali, M.D. Subash Chandran and T.V. Ramachandra. 10. Waste management: a new paradigm/John Jacob Puthur. 11. Water bird diversity at the tanks of North Bangalore/Harish Bhat, P. Manjunath and Pramod Subbarao. 12. Study on the effect of some selected heavy metals on the primary production in freshwater ponds at Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu/S. Sampath Kumar, P. Hariprasad and N. Ramakrishnan. 13. Emerging phytotechnologies for remediation of heavy metal contaminated/polluted soil and water/M.N.V. Prasad. 14. Wetland flora of Uttara Kannada/G.R. Rao, Divaker K. Mesta, M.D. Subash Chandran and T.V. Ramachandra. 15. Natural resources monitoring and management: evolving local indicators as effectives tools of participatory monitoring and management/Sujith Sandur and N.H. Ravindranath. 16. Protection, conservation, eco-restoration and management of tanks/lakes as wetland habitats/B.K. Chakrapani. 17. Environmental education in school curriculum -- an overall perspectives/G.V. Gopal and V.V. Anand. 18. Biodiversity and sustainable management of lakes -- with special reference to the lakes of Mysore/Mathew Thomas and A.G. Devi Prasad. 19. Role of teacher educators in environment education/M.A. Khan. Lake 2006 recommendations. Index.

"Conservation of natural resources through sustainable ecosystem management and development is the key to our secured future. The management of ecosystem involves inventory and monitoring, and applying integrated technologies, methodologies, interdisciplinary approaches for its conservation. Hence, now it is even more critical than ever before for mankind to be environmentally literate. To realize this vision, both ecological and environmental education must become a fundamental part of the system at all levels of education.

Environmental education focusing on real-world contexts and issues often begins close to home, encouraging learners to forge connections with and understand their immediate surroundings. The awareness, knowledge, and skill needed for these local connections and understandings provide a base for moving out into larger systems, broader issues, and a more sophisticated comprehension of causes, connections, and consequences. Thus, environmental education will certainly help us to recognise the importance of investigating the environment within the context of human influences, incorporating an examination of economics, culture, political structure, and social equity as well as natural processes and systems. The ultimate goal of environmental education is to develop an environmentally literate public. It needs to address the connection between our conception and practice of education and our relationship as human cultures to life-sustaining ecological systems. For each environmental issue there are many perspectives and much uncertainty. Environmental education cultivates the ability to recognise uncertainty, envision alternative scenarios, and adapt to changing conditions and information. This knowledge, skill, and mindset translate into a citizenry who is better equipped to address its common problems and take advantage of opportunities, whether environmental concerns are involved or not."