Scouts get lessons on conservation

Over 10,000 young boys from all over the world became a captive audience of lectures and demonstrations conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) during the 12th Boy Scouts of the Philippines National Jamboree held at the McArthur Landing Memorial Park in Palo, Leyte recently.

Aside from the Philippines, countries that were represented were the United States, Australia, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Cambodia.

For seven days, the scouts listened to lectures on the thrusts and programs of the DENR, viewed photo exhibits on the rate and endemic wildlife resources and coastal environment projects of Region 8, mineral resources of the world, solid waste segregation and causes and effects of global warming and ozone layer depletion.

DENR experts also held demonstrations on vermiscomposting and how to make so-called green charcoal which consists of biodegradable farm and forest wastes like twigs, leaves, branches, rice stalks and corn husks formed into briquettes. The green charcoal is said to have a higher heating capacity than those produced from wood and coconut shell.

Vermicomposting, on the other hand, is a technology to generate organic fertilizer using earthworms, specifically the African Night Crawler species.