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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Green Cross Japan

A nature diary program for promoting environmental education to elementary school students in Sri Lanka

Activity grant

Project Description

Sri Lanka is facing many serious problems such as deforestation, waste issues in cities, and water contamination, but environmental awareness is low and people do not have sufficient knowledge to tackle these problems. This project aims to introduce a nature diary program for elementary school students which has already proven succesful in Japan. The project will cover 50 schools over a year, including 5,000 children. A nature diary contest will be held, and the prize winners will be invited to a nature diary symposium to be held in Japan.

Fields
Climate change
Grant year
FY2007 Activity Grants
Grant term
2 years and 9 months
April 2008 - December 2010
Grant amount
7,654,800 yen
Activity region
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan elementary school students working on their nature diaries

Overview of the Organization

Shouo Iwasaki, Director
Representative
Shouo Iwasaki, Director
Establishment
1993
Establishment purpose
The Green Cross engages in a range of environmental initiatives, including the advancement of initiatives tackling global environmental problems through international collaboration and awareness raising activities in Japan, in order to contribute to global environmental conservation.
Main areas of activity
Japan, Sri Lanka
Staff
8 full-time staff members
Annual operating budget
145.04 million yen in 2005, 142.37 million yen in 2006, 142.76 million yen in 2007
WEB site
http://www.gcj.jp/
Recent activities
The Green Cross believes that in order to increase environmental awareness, environmental education is needed from a young age. Since 1999 it has been distributing 'Green Path' nature diaries to interested elementary schools and Eco-kids Clubs free of charge. 100,000 children participated in the diary program in 2008, and in the ten years since 1999, around 600,000 children in total have taken part. In addition to handing out diaries free of charge, the organization also holds a 'Green Path Nature Diary Contest' recognizing children who have worked hard on their diaries over a three-month period. Since 2005, it has also been implementing environmental education programs using the diaries overseas (Sri Lanka).