Friends of nature sound a wake-up call on Easter

RIGA - Over Easter weekend, which this year coincided with the spring solstice and Earth Day, Riga Zoo visitors tried to wake up the world, letting scores of alarm clocks go off at noon.

"The plant and animal species are disappearing," said the organizers of the wake-up. "The forests are cut off, the soil, water and air are poisoned. If we want the next generations to see the world green and alive, it is time to wake up. The natural resources are not sustainable."

The Riga Zoo supported the idea of the Homutov Zoo in the Czech Republic to wake people up for action, marking Earth Day. The effort attracted almost 200 young people and adults who care about the future of their planet. Daiga Leimane, the coordinator of the action, said that the intention was to make people think about how they personally can protect nature.

"It starts on the personal level. Everyone in his everyday life can decide not to waste energy, water and not to pollute the environment, acts which result in animal species disappearing."

According to data available, 2,500 people in Moscow and 700 people in Homutov supported the action. Commenting on public interest, Leimane said the group will support the idea next year.

The action was a success this year.

"The atmosphere was just great. We understood that we are not alone - that there are many people who really care and think about nature," Leimane said.

April was spring clean-up month in most Latvian cities when nature protection clubs celebrated their success in raising public interest for volunteer nature protection activities. The planting of new trees, cleaning the beach, suburb and city areas from the winter dust, constructing and hanging up birdhouses attracted hundreds of Latvians during the month.

At Riga Zoo in April, more than 120 birdhouses took shape. Zoo visitors could learn the construction of the bird-houses to hang later at home and in Riga resort areas. A number of birdhouses, prepared from the materials supplied by the Environment Protection Fund, awaited feathered families on Easter at the open-air Latvian Ethnographic Museum.

The great interest of families brought the widest exhibition of rabbits and domestic birds Latvia has experienced during the last 25 years, with more than 30 kinds of rabbits. The show clarified the confusion among children concerning who hatches the eggs.

"Children often mix up which lays the eggs on Easter - rabbits or birds," said Lidaka.

The aim of the project, launched in 1998 with financial support from the Environment Protection Fund, is to inform and engage people in activities oriented to nature protection and to help birds.

The family approach imbues children with a love for nature from early childhood, said Lidaka.

The range of educational, work, leisure activities and concerts all around Latvia was organized for the 10th time on April 22, the universal Earth Day, by the Environment Protection Club "Friends of the Earth - Latvia."

Unlike Estonia, where the holiday has been a public holiday for five years, it is not one in Latvia yet. That is regrettable, the club members say, for the status of a public holiday would help society to learn more about the ecological situation, as well as promote public environmental consciousness.