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Expert advocates sustainable use of resources
2008-01-19 09:00:05
By Rose Mwalongo
Unless non-renewable resources are utilised carefully and sustainably, there is a danger that resources such as water might one day become more expensive than petroleum products, an environmentalist has warned.
Speaking yesterday in Dar es Salaam at a workshop on the importance of the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), the environmentalist, Bernard Bakobi, said society ought to utilise resources carefully to enable the next generation benefit from them.
Bakobi, an environmentalist with a non-governmental organisation, Environment Technology Association, said environmentalists should not be seen as people who hate development but rather should be respected for fighting for sustainable development.
Speaking at the workshop, Mary Kivaria, chairperson of the IYPE preparatory committee, said every human being should strive to protect the world from destruction.
``The world is ours and we will prevail over it if we take good care of it. I call upon society to do whatever in their power to conserve and to protect the environment, or else one day we will all perish as the world will cease to be a place to live on,`` said Kivaria.
Earlier on, UNESCO country representative Prof. Elizabeth Kiondo said the workshop endeavoured to involve media people to understand the importance of IYPE to enable them educate the society.
Kiondo said IYPE endeavoured, among other things, to teach society to build safe structures, expand urban areas and improve understanding of the evolution life.
Tanzania played a vital role by writing a draft on IYPE to the UNESCO general conference in 2005.
The recommendation was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly during its 60th session in December 2005.
IYPE is a joint initiative by the international union of geological sciences and UNESCO.
Tanzania will host the launching of the International Year of Planet Earth for Africa Region to be held on May 8 in Arusha.
The one-day workshop was organised by UNESCO and brought together journalists from various media houses in the country as well as environmentalists.
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