Cultivating Woodlots by Eco-Clubs in Ghana

Church of Scotland Geneva supports tree planting in Ghana. Please read the article from their newsletter: 

Our congregation is supporting Peace with the Earth, an environmental initiative, with funds raised by selling produce brought to church on Harvest Sunday. Eco-congregations staff, at Church of Scotland Edinburgh, put us in in contact with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Ghana. This is the lead organization of RELBONET, Religious Bodies Network on Climate Change, an Inter-Faith Platform advocating for good and friendly Climate Change Policies and take action to restore degraded lands and create community woodlots. (www. relbonet.org).

The EPC’s Eco-Club Project works with basic school pupils teaching good environmental practices and aiming at behavioural change and better management of the country’s natural resources. A tree planting project was started this year with two clubs, and two acres each have been planted by Adaklu –Waya E.P. Junior High School and by the Peki – Dzake Junior High School in the Volta Region. Buying seeds and seedlings has been a great challenge! Happily the Forestry Services Department donated 2,000 tree seedlings but more are still needed.

Photo borrowed from newsletter: Seedlings being delivered to Adaklu Waya Junior High School pupils

So, we decided to use our Harvest Sunday money to buy more seedlings which means four Eco-Clubs can now be supported, not just two. These Clubs will help restore lands that have been degraded because too many trees were cut down to use for fuel or producing charcoal production or because of over grazing by cattle. Through these Clubs, the young people learn about the effects of climate change and what they can do to make a difference.

Thank you to all who supported this project.

By Nan Braunschweiger

You can access their full newsletter here.

Sign up to Clean Up Scotland

The Clean Up Scotland campaign aims to get one million people in Scotland working together to clean up our country in time for the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup in 2014, and to work towards long-term behaviour change so that dropping litter and mess becomes as socially unacceptable as drink driving.

Simple ways you can help:
• Like them on facebook 
• Follow them on twitter @cleanupscotland

For more information or to register a Clean Up please see their website.

Happy New Year!

We in Eco-Congregation Scotland would like to wish you all a wonderful 2013.

It is an excellent time of year to take a moment to reflect on your achievements in 2012 and make plans for the New Year. Here are links for the 2012 newsletters which we hope will give you lots of good Eco-Congregation activity ideas:

March 2012

July 2012

September 2012   

Rev Sally Foster-Fulton letter to Scotsman – Gas let-down

Letter published in the Scotsman:

Gas let-down

I was disappointed to learn that the Chancellor intends to signal an expansion in the use of natural gas for electricity generation when he unveils the government’s gas strategy later this week.

Although I applaud the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change’s support for 
renewables, I am calling on him to stand firm in his convictions and stand up against the continuing long-term role for fossil fuels in the UK’s energy generation.