Recently, the awareness for environmental protection and conservation has greatly increased, thereby reducing environmental illiteracy. As a result of the in-school and out-school campaigns, special environmental events, publicity programs, sensitizations and outreaches, A very good number of the public have heard something close to “do not drop that litter, keep it with you till you get a bin, don’t pollute that water body, avoid open defecation, ensure proper sanitation, clean your home compound regularly etc”. This has really increased the knowledge of the people of the importance of their role to ensuring protection and proper management of the environment.

However, with this level of awareness and the move to intensify it,     I think it is high time we channelled our strength and resources to fortify and make environmental laws and policies in our regions highly effective. As promising as these moves for environmental protection are, they may be rendered impotent if they are not transformed from mere awareness to policies.

Formulation, establishment and enforcement of relevant environmental laws and policies in our regions are very important. A good number of the public do not observe or put into practice the knowledge they have gained from the environmental awareness programs and campaigns since there are no environmental law or policy binding them or any environmental enforcement agency official to challenge them as a defaulter of any of the environmental policies.

Relevant environmental laws and policies, as pertaining to the peculiarity of a region should be made and strongly enforced. Our move for environmental protection and management should not just end at campaign or establishment of laws, but they must be enforced. The public must see it as obligation to observe these policies as they go about with their daily activities. Environmental law enforcement and monitoring agencies, with the purpose of ensuring obedience to the environmental laws and policies in the region should be established. Also, establishment of environmental police and monitoring officers, whose duty is to arrest any defaulter of any of the environmental laws and ensure proper implementation, should be strongly considered. Likewise, unfriendly fines and charges should be placed on breaking of the environmental laws and policies.

As a result of the proper establishment, implementation and enforcement of these environmental policies, the campaigns and awareness programs will make more meaning to the public and render them active than the passive nature they initially seem to have.
It is time the environmental education derived from our campaigns and awareness programs turned to laws and policies. It is time the public stopped seeing their contribution to protecting the environment as a voluntary action but as an obligation to be carried out in their daily activities. It is time we weren’t just careful of not breaking traffic rules, moral laws, civic laws, but also environmental laws and policies.

Photo source: https://www.sprep.org/