Bayer picks environmental envoys

Eight college students were conferred the title 2005 Bayer Young Environmental Envoys for Luzon during the regional semi-finals held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City on May 7. The envoys are Lester Louis Lopez (UPLB), Alita Criselle Bautista (Ateneo de Manila University), Jordan Zamoranos (St. Louis University), Ryan Anthony Buccat (Lorma Colleges), Ryan Manuel (Nueva Vizcaya State University), Jeffrey Mora (FEU), John Rex Jardinero (Palawan State University) and Jonathan Francis Cabral St. Louis University

The eight young envoys from Luzon will attend an eco-camp in Lagos del Sol Resort, Cavinti, Laguna on May 21-25, together with the winning envoys from Visayas and Mindanao. They will have an opportunity to learn from distinguished speakers in government, business, media, the private sector, and the United Nations who will talk about what their respective sectors are doing for the environment. An ecological tour of forest, water, and land resources will give the envoys practical exposure to the beauty of nature and the value of preserving the environment

From among these envoys, five will be chosen to go on week-long, all-expense paid trip to Germany in November to observe environmentally sound practices in a highly developed country. They will be joining their student counterparts from Thailand, India, Singapore, China, Korea, Brazil, Poland, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador on the field trip to Germany. Three others will be named representatives to the Eco-Minds Forum where delegates from nine Asia Pacific countries will converge in Manila by the end of October for an international Forum on Sustainable Development

The Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program (BYEE) seeks to educate the youth in the global efforts to save and protect the environment, and is a flagship initiative of Bayer and United Nations Environment Program’s global partnership for youth environmental projects. The Eco-Minds Program seeks to combine science and environmental principles with socio-economic and cultural factors to find solutions to the problems facing humanity