Rotary's Preserve Planet Earth Program

Rapid population growth and unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are the driving forces that threaten the environment. With this explosive growth has come environmental challenges such as pollution, urban overcrowding, overuse of arable land and diminishing water resources. According to the World Bank: 1.5 billion people live with dangerous air pollution 1 billion live without clean water; 2 billion without sanitation World food production has doubled in the past 25 years creating substantial losses of natural habitats and crop diversity. One-seventh of the world's tropical forests have disappeared in the past 25 years.

Recognizing the need to stem the growing environmental crisis, Rotary International launched its Preserve Planet Earth (PPE) Program in 1990. PPE projects foster concern for the global environment and sustainable development. This initiative underscored the commitment already evident in a wide range of Rotary club projects. Rotary members in more than 28,000 clubs around the globe have taken a "hands on" approach to solving environmental problems by reforesting, establishing animal sanctuaries, reducing toxic waste, sponsoring educational activities and promoting ecological practices. In 1995, Rotary adopted a resolution encouraging clubs to support projects which provide, where needed, safe drinking water using simple sustainable technology.

Rotary clubs often work with their partners in service to protect natural resources. Rotaract and Interact , Rotary-sponsored service clubs for young people, organize environmental projects that involve their peers. Many Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholars have undertaken important ecological studies while studying abroad. The special designation "Preserve Planet Earth Scholar" encourages Rotary Foundation Scholars to study ecological issues. Since 1991 there have been over 100 PPE Scholars.

Projects to preserve and protect

• Rotary's first-ever conference in Antarctica (January, 1997) drew attention to the crucial environmental role of that continent, which has been likened to a canary in a coal mine — a gauge to warn the earth of unseen environmental dangers.

• A Rotary Foundation Matching Grant sponsored by Rotary clubs in Texas, U.S.A. and Turkey is providing seeds, plants and fences to prevent wind erosion in Bursa, Turkey.

• Car dealers tuned up engines and disposed of used oil, tires and batteries free of charge in Vaxjo, Sweden. Rotarians obtained the car dealers' cooperation and organized an air quality seminar on limiting pollution.

• The Rotary club of Famagusta, Cyprus launched an island-wide environmental awareness campaign that included the production of television and radio announcements, posters, children's coloring books, and pamphlets showing how to build a solar oven and an organic composter. Recycling bins, designed and built by club members were offered to each municipality. In addition, some 2,500 trees grown in the club's nursery were planted.

• Rotarians from Sao Paulo, Brazil, working with several Rotary districts in Canada, the U.S.A. and Brazil, donated 56,000 nut trees for replanting Brazil's rain forest. The trees provide income for local Indians and combat deforestation. The Rotary Foundation added a US$100,000 Health, Hunger and Humanity (3H) grant to fund fertilizer, transport and other expenses. The trees will live an average of 600 years.

• Mexico's Monterrey-Cumbres Rotary Club developed a children's ecology education program. Children learned to wash, sort and compact daily refuse. The program taught garbage was misplaced resources and recycling was the solution.

• The "Clean and Green" project of the Rotaract Club of Eastern Dagupan in the Philippines is a two-phase program to decrease pollution and restore trees to the area. Rotaractors promote environmental awareness through local media publicity and by passing out information. They also placed trash cans in various well-traveled areas and planted tree saplings in schoolyards.

• In Haiti, a 3-H grant helped renovate the Tapion dam and canal system. There is now water for crop irrigation and local farmers are being trained in agroforestry, and soil and water conservation. The project is cosponsored by Rotary Club of Carrefour and Rotary clubs in Rotary District 7890 (Massachusett and Vermont, USA), which also sent volunteers. Assistance for the project was also provided by the U.N.'s Food & Agriculture Organization.

• The Rotary Club of Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., funded the environmental publication "Going Green: A Guide to Becoming an Environmentally Friendly Business Without Going Broke." The publication was distributed to area companies to help them decrease energy consumption, reduce waste and improve recycling.

Supporting sustainable environments

An important dimension of Rotary's commitment to the environment is long-term or "sustainable" development projects. Sustainable development projects promote economic and social progress that both alleviate poverty and protect the environment for future generations. Sustainable development activities help families, communities and nations break out of the cycle of poverty that destroys both the environment and the human spirit. They are supported by agencies of the United Nations, national governments, and non-governmental organizations like Rotary International.

In sustainable development projects, Rotarians lend "seed" money, resources, and expertise to start the process. Once projects begin, most of the responsibility shifts to the local participants. Rotarians provide the structure and training that enables the project to continue.

The Rotary Foundation provides funding for large scale, long-term projects through its Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Program, which is designed to improve health, alleviate hunger, and promote human and social development. The Foundation funds smaller international development projects through Matching Grants, which match funds raised for a project supported by Rotarians in at least two countries. Rotary clubs in the United Kingdom used Matching Grant funds to provide equipment for reforesting shelterbelts and windbreaks in northwest Sudan.

Rotary's World Community Service (WCS) program helps Rotary clubs identify clubs in another country that need financial, technical or professional assistance with a community service project. Through WCS, people in the desert regions of Senegal are preparing themselves against future drought by improving the water supply and adopting sustainable agriculture practices.

Through the Rotary Village Corps (RVC) program, Rotary supports non-Rotarians working to improve their communities. The RVC of Apolonia, Ghana, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Accra West, implemented a tree-planting program to reforest areas that had been stripped by firewood cutting.

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