Eco-Raise Society E-Magazine 2013

FEBRUARY 2013 1st ONLINE EDITION

www.ecoraise.org

An Insight Welcome Message ……………………………………………………………. 1 Message from the President ………………………………………………….. 2 History of Eco-Raise Society ………………………………………………….. 4 The Website - An Insight ……………………………………………………….6 Projects ………………………………………………………………………….8 Member’s Special Touch ………………………………………….……………28 Eco-Raise’s 1st Anniversary …………………………………………………... 34 Treasurer’s Report 2012 ……………………………………………………….. 36 Become a Member …………………………………………………………….40 Eco-Raisers of 2012 ……………………………………………………………41 Executive Members of 2012 ………………………………………….……….. 42 Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………….44 Wall of Thoughts ………………………………………………….………… 45

Hey Eco-Raisers!

The Eco-Raise Team is proud to present its first online magazine, which would not have been completed without the help and support of everyone. Once again, the team has shown that dedication, perseverance and teamwork pay! During the making of this magazine, we have encountered several problems and had to delay the online publication countless times.

However, the Eco-Raise Team has overcome every obstacle to complete what had been started.

This online publication is the first edition of a yearly series. It aims to provide an overview of the Eco-Raise Society; its past events and the upcoming activities for the next year. Also, it is also a way to create awareness through articles on current environmental problems and ways to ensure its protection. We also have a member’s section which consists of articles, poems, views and comments.

We wish you people a wonderful time reading the online magazine and we hope to hear your feedbacks soon.

Ms. Kapeesha Askoorum Public Relations Officer 12/13 EDITING TEAM 2012 1

Dear Eco-Raisers and Reader, The first online edition of the Eco-Raise magazine has finally been completed!

The society is pleased & proud to declare that the magazine will be accessible to everyone. After one whole year spent in trying to do something to protect our Mauritian environment and biodiversity, we found out that there is still so much to be done. The first step would be to work together as one. So let’s join hands people!

During this year, we have found that better results are achieved if the work is done ‘la main dan la main’. The team spirit has proven to be more fruitful. As I always say, the Eco-Raise Society can never raise without its ever growing members. Also, the Eco-Raise Society is ever thankful to all Associations and organisations that had faith in us and helped us while we were still emerging.

Hoping that we can achieve much more this year, I wish you all a happy reading!

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Mr. Sundy Ramah President 12/13

“its always impossible until it's done" - Nelson Mandela

Photo Courtesy of Kurtish Venkatiah

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T

The History of Eco-Raise Society

he idea of creating Eco-Raise Society cropped up to a group of university students after a wonderful lagoon cleaning experience. It occurred to them that people knew little about the state of our environment and that so little was being done to protect it. The zeal to do something for Mother Nature gave birth to Eco- Raise Society. On the 3rd November 2011, it was officially registered as an NGO with 13 members.

Today, after one year, an amazing journey has been accomplished and still much more remains to be done.

With the help of its 41 members and collaboration of other organisations, the Eco-Raise Society has accomplished an amazing one year journey. The objective of the society is to act as a platform and unite every individual/persons/organisations under a single banner, which is the protection of the environment. Our first collaboration was with a former NGO called ‘The Rising’ in April 2011, much before the society was officially registered! It was a one day sensitisation campaign at the Gayasing Ashram, Port- Louis. After this event, members of Eco-Raise Society participated in lagoon cleanings. In February 2012, the ‘International Youth Forum on Environment’ was organised at the University of Mauritius, in collaboration with AIESEC UOM. In April 2012, the society had the immense privilege to organise a Global Dialogues session at the University of Mauritius. This event was made possible with the collaboration of Ecological Living In Action (ELIA) Company. This collaboration continued during RIO+20 Mauritius Event during which Eco-Raise Society helped throughout the event as part of the core team.

In August 2012, AIESEC UOM and Eco-Raise Society were brought together again for another project called the Paint It Green Project. Mainly primary students were targeted during this environmental project. More recently, in July 2012, Eco- Raise Society and AIESEC UTM*CTI had the pleasure to organise a one day workshop called the ‘Marine Environment and Biodiversity of Mauritius Workshop 2012’ on the Mauritian Marine Environment and the different laws pertaining to the en4

vironment in Mauritius. Last but not the least, was the wonderful experience of La Citadelle Restoration Project. During this project, many Eco-Raisers helped in planting indigenous trees around the Citadel Fort in an attempt to re-forest that area. The project was an initiative of another NGO, ‘Friends of the Environment’. Our last participation in an eco friendly event was the Ile aux Benitiers cleaning weekend, organised in September 2012 by the One Future One Planet Platform, in collaboration with Eco-Raise Society and other NGOs. The organisation of all these events would not have been possible without the support of all our collaborators and the Eco-Raise team wishes to thank all of them whole heartedly. However, the work does not end here.

Eco- Raise Society has the vision to sensitise the maximum number of people so that the ‘Green’ attitude comes to every Mauritian naturally.

“You can start with nothing. And out of nothing and out of no way, a way will be made.” ~Michael Bernard Beckwith The above quote beautifully summarises the beginning of this voyage. With just an idea in mind and the will do something, Eco-Raise Society has had an incredible start and an amazing first year and surely, many more such wonderful experiences await the whole team.



Why Eco-Raise Society?

Simply because Eco stands for ecology, Raise means awaken and stand up for a cause!



Why the motto: Nu Later Nu Lamer?

Initially, the team wanted to focus only on protection of the marine environment. But then, they realised that marine degradation and

pollution

pollution.

are

Thus, by

caused

by

terrestrial

protecting

terrestrial

environment, the marine surroundings are also being protected!

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The official Eco-Raise Society website was launched on the 3rd November 2012 to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the NGO. The website is an opportunity to showcase all our events but also and most importantly, to use it as a platform to sensitise people, give ecological tips, highlight any environmental problems around the country or any wonderful gestures/effort being carried out to protect the environment. The website has been designed to be very simple and understandable by all. It consists of a section on the history of the society, on the executive team 2011/2012 and the different ways to contact the society.

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There is also a ‘Blog’ section where articles and photos of events organised by Eco-Raise Society are constantly being uploaded. It is also possible to leave a comment about the different projects.

The society is already present since the past one year on the social platform, Facebook. The website is thus another step in the development of the NGO and also represents an important milestone in the history of Eco-Raise Society.

Follow us on our Facebook page on: https://www.facebook.com/ecoraise Add us on our group on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ecoraise.soc/ OR Stay connected with us on our Official Website on: www.ecoraise.org

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It is with much pride and honor that I am addressing this message to mark the 1st issue of Eco-Raise Magazine.

Eco-Raise has done remarkably well for its first year, thanks to all collaborators, members and executive members who brought in their courage and the willingness to save the environment for the future generation. We strongly believe that in order to preserve the environment, our natural heritage, collaboration and co-learning between individuals or group of individuals, communities, governing and non governing societies are very important. Throughout its first year, Eco-Raise did 8 events in collaboration whereby strategies on how to sensitize people and show them the current situation of our Mauritian and Global environment were developed. Each event was a success with its own magic and outcomes. Eco-Raise also acts as platform, whereby members are in the frontline where they become the project managers and coordinators of their ideas of projects where they can appoint and lead their own team.

Like 2012, 2013 is a very promising year with completion of some projects and starting of new ones and on behalf of my entire team and myself, I would like to wish Eco-Raise Society, Eco-Raisers and all collaborators best of luck for future events.

Mr. Soundara Vellan SORNUM Team Leader Organizing Team 12/13

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ESCORT PROJECT WITH THE RISING 4th April 2011

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Lagoon Cleanings with Ocean Spirit October & December 2011

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13

International Youth Forum on Environment (IYFE) 16th February with AIESEC UOM 2012

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Believe Investigation Team as Media Partner

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UoM Global Dialogues with ELIA & AWAKE UoM April 2012

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17

Eco-Raise Society in Rio + 20 Mauritius Event 23rd June 2012

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19

The Marine Environment & Biodiversity of Mauritius Workshop with AIESEC UTM

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11th July 2012

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Volunteering in la Citadelle restoration project 16th June— with Friends Of the Environment 7th July 2012

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Paint It Green with AIESEC UoM July 2012

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25

Ile aux Benitier Cleaning Campaign with One Future One Planet (OFOP)

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29th & 30th September 2012

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Members’ special touch….

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On se voile la face….

Dans cette île, Où les cris sont futiles, Les protestes inutiles, Les lois séniles.

On vit, Tranquillement, Aveuglement, Sans proteste, Sans geste, On se laisse manipuler, Berner, Abuser, Maltraiter.

Le jour sera-t-il Où les vagues se retourneront?

Où les éléments se révolteront?

Où vous atteindriez le rivage?

Ou feriez-vous naufrage?

Ou seriez-vous pris dans ce déluge?

Qui, brisant tout subterfuge, Balaierait tout sur son passage, Saccagerait ce beau paysage, Sans contempler les visages, Blanchissant chaque page, L’ile mirage, Cela sera, L’ile mirage, Cela se terminera.

L’ignorance est devenue connaissance, L’impénétrable désormais accessible, L’introuvable maintenant visible, L’impertinence se multiplie, Tout faire

Tout acquérir Ne plus savoir pourquoi Mais se demander pourquoi savoir ?

La vie a changé, La vision s’est métamorphosée, La destination n’est jamais statique, Tout le monde le sait.

Mais les gens sont aussi instables Beaucoup l’ignore.

Les pensées se sont-elles Approfondies, Amoindries ou Agencées ?

Le cœur aime-t-il plus ou moins Ou pas du tout ?

Assez de sottises, Les Humains !

Humains soi-disant Raison, Raisonnés, Raisonneurs, Raisonnables ; Mais Subjectifs, Irréfléchis, Immatures, Indécis J’en ai marre de les croire, De leur comédie De leur tragédie Je n’en ai rien à cirer.

Dans ces fumés, Noires, Polluées, Insensées, J’étouffe et je crève !

Chetan Gukhool 29

EcoWisdom- Adopting the Green Attitude

By S.V.Sornum ‘’It

is estimated that solid waste produced in Mauritius is about 380,000 tonnes a year (or 1,200 tonnes per day) and is expected to reach 418,000 tonnes in 2014. Each Mauritian generates around 0.7 kg of solid waste daily and this is expected to rise to 0.9 kg by 2010.’’ --Extract from a document published on solid waste by the Government of Mauritius.

Solid waste includes mainly plastic, paper and organic wastes which at the end of the day, end up in landfills.

Resources like space and money is used for maintenance of landfills and these are deducted later on from our pockets. However, this current situation can be changed by very simple actions that can be done by us. Segregation of waste, composting of organic waste, reusing and repurposing are simple steps that we can take in order to decrease our daily production of waste.

EcoWisdom- Adopting the green attitude is a series of small articles which will help people to adopt a green lifestyle in order to be more sustainable, through shared personal experiences and knowledge. In this section, it is shown how the amount of organic waste could be decreased through composting.

Composting is the decomposition and recycling of organic waste with the end result used as fertilizers and soil enricher. Compost is rich in nutrients like nitrates and carbons which are important for good and healthy life of plants. The amount of nutrients varies according to the different organic wastes used in composting for instance, if there is a high amount of bovine urine, dung and green leaves, the nitrate content will be higher and the compost will have pungent smell and also an alkaline pH. Not all plants like alkaline pH and in order to use compost rich in nitrate, salts should be added to the soil. Compost making is a very simple and interesting process, which does not require any hard work.

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Procedure for compost making: The first step for making compost is the segregation and collection of organic waste. All veggie stuffs are good (fruits and vegetable peels that have stayed too long, starting to rot, etc.).

N.B: Non-veg stuffs like poultry skin, egg shells, fish scale or even poultry blood could be used in composting as they speed up the rate but in this case, we didn’t use them for two reasons namely: Firstly, non-veg stuffs usually add nitrates to the compost thus giving a pungent smell and also attract small flies. Secondly, I am from a Hindu family and we consume very little amount of non-veg weekly. During this step, organic wastes was collected over a period of 2-3 weeks in a small container which can be of any size or any material provided it can contain the waste over a period of 3 weeks.

In the container, the first thing to be added is wood flakes or chips which can be obtained from any wood workshop for free and it is mixed with a small amount of soil. This mixture will retain moisture and will provide a medium for culture of decomposing microorganism.

Once the base mixture is complete, add the vegetables peels daily and cover it. Covering the container is important to prevent excess water evaporation and prevent fruits flies from entering the mixture as it is a bit unhygienic, especially if the small container is kept in the kitchen. At home, since we are big tea drinkers, we added tea leftovers in the compost as they are full of moisture and also are natural pest repellants for aphids and ants. The compost is mixed every week to provide appropriate aeration so as to increase the rate of decomposition.

After three weeks, the organic waste collected is ready for composting. During this step, a small amount of handy work and a space where there is soil and worms are needed. If you do not have a garden, it’s not really a problem, compost can still be made through another process called vermicomposting (see end of article).

First, in the garden, select a small area whereby there is shade and it is less sunlight.

Dig a small hole of dimension 1m length by 1 m width with depth around 30cm or so.

Once the hole is made, place a small amount of wet wood flakes at the bottom (1cm thick) and place the organic waste collected.

Water the mixture slightly.

Mixing the compost mixture depends largely upon the time availability of a person. Some people say that daily mixing is very important, whereas others will say, to aerate the mixture every 3 days. No matter, how often you turn the mixture, it is very important to note that, no new waste should be added for the next 2 weeks as addition of new organic waste will cause imbalance in pH, temperature and moisture content which will result in imbalance in micro biome decomposition. The compost will either take longer time or may also create imbalance in component composition and will change pH of the compost. We added organic matter to the compost hole every 3 weeks to be on the safer side.

Alternatives to traditional composting For people, living in small apartments and who do not have small gardens to do composting, it is not a problem. Several things could be done, like for instance, a community composting ground, whereby people in a community, bring their segregated organic waste every 3 weeks and make a common composting ground. The compost harvested can be later divided among themselves. Another solution, less common in Mauritius is called vermin- composting. Vermi - composting is used mainly in Europe in small apartments, using red and white worms and long earth worms can be used. In this method, turning over is less necessary than in the above described method. For more detail on vermicomposting, log on: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=cRAq2chA7HA

Once the hole is filled, no new organic waste is added. A second hole is made whereby the process for the first compost hole is repeated. However, turning and mixing should be continued in the first hole. After at least four -six weeks after the filling in the first hole, compost is ready to be used. The yield of compost will vary with temperature and region where it is produced. In QuatreBornes, the compost was ready after around 2 months. Good compost has a nice earthly smell and can be used instantly. Some people mix compost with soil before using them in pots etc whereas in India, compost is used directly without soil.

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Do It Yourself….

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by Chaveena

Pouf

Do It Yourself‌.

by Chaveena

Christmas Card

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Thanks to Eco-Marine de Roche Noire for the guided visit 34

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Treasurer’s Report 2012

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Who can become a member of Eco-Raise Society?

Anyone over the age of 18 and residing in Mauritius may become a member of Eco-Raise Society.

Type

Student

Ordinary

Description

Entrance Fee (Rs)

Subscription Fee (Rs)

150

100

150

200

-

500

Open to any student of any Secondary and Tertiary institution Open to any individual who has a keen interest in biodiversity and environment issues

Open to any registered association who has similar objectives as Associate Eco-Raise Society

If you have any queries regarding membership, quickly send us an Email on: contact@ecoraise.org and we will be glad to help you out.

Each membership has validity of 1 year, starting from day the member’s application has been approved and paid.

Why become an Eco-Raiser?? 

Get your own trendy Membership Card



Opportunity to work on different environmental projects



Become the project coordinator of your own project



Beneficiate 25% discount on all re-purposed articles made



Build an extensive network with national and international 'eco' people



You get to be an active part in making a greener Mauritius

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Anousha Appavou

Sheyne Moodelly

Perousha Appavou

Ryanish Munbodhowa

Rinasha Appavou

Jessen Nullathemby

Chaveena Askoorum

Shalinee Ramah

Divesh Aubeeluck

Roshan Ramessur

Farzannah Aumeer

Revatish Sampat

Youdisha Beecah

Selvina sary

Vishika Beepur

Mahalakshmi sawmy

Nitish Bhugowandeen

Sharvesh Sewsurn

Maiyshla Chunwan

Kumaravellan Sornum

Tejashree Cushmangee

Yuram Venkatiah

Dhanisha Gopaul

Julia Vitry

Cynthia Labonne Yohans Mahadea 41

Executive Members 2012 Managing Committee Sundy Ramah—President Lekraj Etwarysing—Vice President (Study Leave) Menaka Gukhool—Secretary General Pavishram Rughoo—Asst. Secretary Revtish Hurkoo—Treasurer Ronnie Francois— Asst. Treasurer

Public Relations Kapeesha Askoorum—P.R.O Zaheer Oasis—Asst. P.R.O (Resigned)

Organising Team Vellan S Sornum—Team Leader Vandana Heetun Ibraahim M Atchia (Resigned) Lutchmee Sumoreeah (On Leave) Srishti Ramsaha (Acting Vice President)

Auditors Adarsh Makoonlall 42

Namrata Ancharaz

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Acknowledgments Our first year as an NGO would not have been fruitful without the help

and

support

of

other

organisations.

While

we

were

still

struggling towards the proper management of the society, some organisations, namely, Believe Investigation Team (BIT), Ecological Living in Action (ELIA), One Future One Planet Platform (OFOP), AWAKE UoM

Student Society, AIESEC UoM & AIESEC UTM*CTI,

came forward to help us in our various projects. They supported, encouraged and motivated us throughout this one year effort. The Eco-Raise

team

would

like

to

express

its

gratitude

to

these

organisations and we wish that our collaboration continues for the next few years!

Also,

the

Eco-Raise

Society

would

like

to

show

a

special

appreciation for Mr Ameeruddheen Khodabacus and the BIT for being such wonderful collaborators of Eco-Raise Society. It has always been a pleasure

working with them and we hope that our relationship

continue for the better.

Last, but not the least, the Eco-Raise Society would like to thank its members and every person who have helped indirectly or directly in our projects.

Eco-Raise Society 2013

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“I found the workshop with Eco Eco--Raise truly useful. Not only did my fellow interns and I learn more about the environmental issues in Mauritius, but we also got to discuss what is being done in our respective countries to counter them, and hence come up with joint solutions for Mauritius. These people are truly committed to their work and are doing a great job by both spreading awareness and implementing solutions. I wish them all the best!” - Tanyah Hameed Khan from Pakistan

‘’‘’The The team that came on the day really brought amazing attention, skill and more than anything else a sense of family that was the important part of energizing us all on the day day.’’ .’’ - Maja (OFOP Member, GD Harvester and Harvester Trainer)

“The Eco Eco-- Raisers on the day did a really good job as usual and the new ones fitted in the team and process easily easily.” .”

- Adarshini (OFOP Member, harvester)

“The Eco Eco-- Raisers were just great !! Supportive and collaborative in every way possible. Effective in delivering the end result. Hats off to you!! you!!’’’’- Bina (OFOP Member, Harvester)

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CONTACTS Tel: (Secretary) 978 8275 / 732 1591 / (P.R.O) 492 6118 Postal Mail: Fabric Road, Mare d’Albert (to be addressed to the secretary) Email: contact@ecoraise.org Website: www.ecoraise.org