HOW a person sees and uses the environment has something to do with his place of play as a child, according to environmentalist JP Alipio of the Cordillera Conservation Trust during a forum held recently at the University of the Philippines Baguio.
Alipio said children nowadays have already lost their place of play because they have lost the value of the environment around them.
Based on his observations, the concept of “play” has changed from chasing a friend hiding behind a tree to battling with or killing an opponent on a monitor.
Most children do not play the traditional “hide and seek” or “patintero” anymore. Most of them just stay in front of the computers socializing with friends online and play games on their tablets or other gadgets.
Alipio said children who do not play in a natural environment will not be able to experience it therefore they would not realize its value.
“One should use the environment in order to value it,” he said, stressing by “use” he meant enjoying and appreciating the beauty of nature and not just merely view it as a utility.
He highlighted it is important for children to be exposed in a natural environment so they may grow to value it.
He suggested for parents to bring their kids to parks and go picnic, camp in some place peaceful, send their kids in tree planting activities and maybe just walk around places where sceneries are visually attractive instead of taking them to the malls or keeping them at home in front of their computers.
Furthermore, he said people in the region have to go back to the core values of being indigenous.
According Alipio, being indigenous should not only be about wearing "bahag" and performing rituals but being a part of the environment as well.
People have to value environment for its beauty and not just as a utility, which provides us natural resources, he noted.
He closed without the value for our environment, we people tend to take advantage of it which oftentimes lead to its destruction.
The Cordillera Conservation Trust is an organization, which advocates for the protection of environment.
The organization aims to teach children to value the environment by guiding school children in remote areas in making a nursery in their own schools.
Plants and trees in the nurseries will not only be planted but also be taken care of the students themselves so they may have a relationship with them.
On Tuesday, the CCT, along with different stakeholders from Baguio City, Tuba and La Trinidad Benguet participated in a tree planting activity dubbed as "#Reforesttheroad" at Mt. Kabuyao in Sto. Tomas.
The activity aimed to restore the beauty of the area where a massive tree cutting was recently held to give space for an eco-park project and a road construction.