Env edu 216 unit 1

Course Title: Environmental Education
Course Code : BED216 MM:100
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Objectives of the Course:
• To understand and reflect on the concept and
characteristics of environmental education from various
aspects.
• To develop awareness understanding and concern about
environment and associated problems, and to develop
knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation and
commitment to work individually and collectively
towards their solutions and prevention of new ones.
• To do teaching learning about the environment, through
the environment and for the environment.
• To develop special skill needed to link theoretical
understanding with practical/applied aspects.

Unit I: Nature and scope of environmental education
• Nature, need and scope of environmental education and its
conservation
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MEANING OF ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION:
It refers to a process that allows individuals to
explore environmental issues and take action to
improve it.
UNESCO states that EE is vital in imparting an
inherent respect for nature amongst society and in
enhancing public environmental awareness.
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Nature of EE:
•Environment is derived from the French word “Environner”, which
means encircle or surrounding.
•Environment is a complex of many variables, which surrounds man
as well as the living organisms.
• Environmental education describe the interrelationships among
organisms, the environment and all the factors, which influence life
on earth, including atmospheric conditions, food chains, the water
cycle, etc.
• It is a basic science about our earth and its daily activities, and
therefore, this science is important for everyone.
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SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Environmental education discipline has multiple and multilevel
scopes. The scopes are summarized as follows:
1. The study creates awareness among the people to know about
various renewable and nonrenewable resources of the region. The
endowment or potential, patterns of utilization and the balance of
various resources available for future use in the state of a country
are analysed in the study.
2. It provides the knowledge about ecological systems and cause and
effect relationships.
3. It provides necessary information about biodiversity richness and
the potential dangers to the species of plants, animals and
microorganisms in the environment.
4. The study enables one to understand the causes and consequences
due to natural and induced disasters (flood, earthquake, landslide,
cyclones etc.,) and pollutions and measures to minimize the
effects.
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5. It enables one to evaluate alternative responses to environmental
issues before deciding an alternative course of action.
6. The study enables environmentally literate citizens (by knowing
the environmental acts, rights, rules, legislations, etc.) to make
appropriate judgments and decisions for the protection and
improvement of the earth.
7. The study exposes the problems of over population, health,
hygiene, etc. and the role of arts, science and technology in
eliminating/ minimizing the evils from the society.
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8. The study tries to identify and develop appropriate and
indigenous eco-friendly skills and technologies to various
environmental issues.
9. It teaches the citizens the need for sustainable utilization of
resources as these resources are inherited from our ancestors to the
younger generation without deteriorating their quality.
10. The study enables theoretical knowledge into practice and the
multiple uses of environment.
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Importance of EE
1. World population is increasing at an alarming rate especially in
developing countries.
2. The natural resources endowment in the earth is limited.
3. The methods and techniques of exploiting natural resources are
advanced.
4. The resources are over-exploited and there is no foresight of leaving
the resources to the future generations.
5. The unplanned exploitation of natural resources lead to pollution of
all types and at all levels.
6. The pollution and degraded environment seriously affect the health of
all living things on earth, including man.
7. The people should take a combined responsibility for the
deteriorating environment and begin to take appropriate actions to save
the earth.
8. Education and training are needed to save the biodiversity and
species extinction.
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Importance of EE
9. The urban area, coupled with industries, is major sources of
pollution.
10. The number and area extinct under protected area should be
increased so that the wild life is protected at least in these sites.
11. The study enables the people to understand the complexities of the
environment and need for the people to adapt appropriate activities and
pursue sustainable development, which are harmonious with the
environment.
12. The study motivates students to get involved in community action,
and to participate in various environment and management projects.
13. It is a high time to reorient educational systems and curricula
towards these needs.
14. Environmental education takes a multidisciplinary approach to the
study of human interactions with the natural environment.
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Importance of EE
15. Environmental study is a key instrument for bringing about the
changes in the knowledge, values, behaviors and lifestyles required to
achieve sustainability and stability within and among countries.
16. Environmental education deals with every issue that affects an
organism.
17. It is essentially a multidisciplinary approach that brings about an
appreciation of our natural world and human impacts on its integrity.
18. It is an applied science as it seeks practical answers to making
human civilization sustainable on the earth's finite resources.
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Conservation of EE:
The need to protect the environment hence the rationales for
environmental education arise as a result of the following:
1. Environment is the basis of all life and therefore deserves proper
care and management.
2. If the environment is threatened on a continuous basis, numerous
problems which would constitute a danger to human existence
could arise.
3. The environment is part of our cultural heritage which should be
handed down to prosperity.
4. Some resources of the environment are not easily replaceable and
should be managed on a sustainable basis, to prevent the extinction
of certain components of the environment such as plants and
animals.
5. There is need to enhance the sanity and aesthetic quality of our
environment in order to promote healthy living.
6. The environment is part of nature and needs to be preserved for its
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Environmental education: a way of implementing the goals of
environmental protection.
Present status of environmental education at various levels:
i. Objectives of Environmental Education at Primary Level
(a)To know and understand true aspects of the environment in
general.
(b)To know and understand the interaction between mammals,
between human and their environment and interaction between
the various elements and components of the environment.
(c) Build understanding, awareness and sensitivity towards causes
and efforts of the class that continuously take place in society
the world around us.
(d)To build and develop skills in thinking, reasoning, enquiring,
evaluating and making decisions concerning human and the
world around them.
(e) Inculcate the attitude in using the knowledge and skills towards
solving problem and issues related to individuals, society and
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Environmental education: a way of implementing the goals of
environmental protection.
(f) To build the values and attitudes towards the need and necessity
to live together in harmony in the context of the heterogeneous
society.
(g)To emphasize the relevance of science to daily life.
(h)To develop a scientific attitude in student.
(i) To create an environmental conducive to greater reliance on the
use of principles and practices of science.
(j) To acquaint the student’s with various natural phenomena.
(k) To develop an outlook which emphasizes the method employed
in different disciplines of science.
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ii. Objectives of Environmental Education at Secondary Level
Environmental education to be taught as integrated science in which
environmental education concepts are included.
Objectives
1. To emphasize the relevance of science to daily life.
2. To develop a scientific attitude in student.
3. To create an environmental conducive to greater reliance on the
use of principles and practices of science.
4. To acquaint the student’s with various natural phenomena.
5. To develop an outlook which emphasizes the method employed in
different disciplines of science.
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iii. Aspects of Environmental Education Emphasized at Higher
Secondary Level
(a)Population - growth, arises and problems of unplanned
population.
(b)Law - Land use, land reclamation and land and soil
conservation.
(c)Resources - resource uses, conservation, recycling.
(d)Food and Nutrition - Food production, food adulteration and
preservation, balance diet etc.
(e)Conservation - Causes of wildlife, plant, soil, water and
conservation of other non-renewable natural beauty.
(f)Pollution - Pollution of water, air and soil, noise pollution,
pollution by insecticide and other chemicals and waste disposals.
(g)Health and Hygiene - Individual, family, country and social
health and hygiene, health hazards etc.
(h)Humans and Nature - Other compounds of atmosphere,
environmental quality and future on earth.
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Constraints to Implementing Environmental Education:
1. Rigid Specialization.
2. Complexity of inter-disciplinary value of Environmental
education.
3. High pupil - teacher ratio for organizing pupil participation
programs.
4. Paucity of qualified trained environmental educator.
5. Lack of proper resources in terms of equipment, supplementary
materials and reference materials.
6. Tendency to resist changes.
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Date: 25/08/2020
•India as a mega biodiversity Nation, Different ecosystems at
national and global level.
• Role of individual in conservation of natural resources: water,
energy and food
• Role of individual in prevention of pollution: air and water

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1. India as a mega biodiversity Nation,
Different ecosystems at national and
global level.
https://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/modelcurri
culum/Chapter4.pdf

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The Global Patterns in Biodiversity
The present geological era is perhaps the richest in biological
diversity. About 2.1 million species have been identified till date,
while many more species are believed to exist.
According to UNEP (1993-94) (UN convention on environment
protection) estimate, the total number of species that might exist on
Earth range between 9.0 – 52 million .
Invertebrate animals and plants make-up most of the species. About
70% of all known species are invertebrates (animals without
backbones such as insects, sponges, worms, etc.); while, about 15%
are plants. Mammals, the animal group to which man belong,
comprise a comparatively small number of species. Of all the
world’s species, only 10 to 15% live in North America and Europe.
By contrast, the centers of greatest biodiversity tend to be in the
tropics.

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Patterns in Biodiversity
Species are not uniformly distributed over the Earth; diversity varies
greatly from place to place. In terms of the number of basic kinds of
organism and number of species of each kind, biodiversity has varied
markedly through geological time; and, in terms of present day
species richness, biodiversity varies greatly between one part of the
earth and another. The present global patterns in biodiversity indicate
that the species richness tends to vary geographically according to a
series of fairly well defined rules. For example, in case of terrestrial
environments:
Warmer areas hold more species than the colder areas;
Wetter areas hold more species than the drier ones;
Larger areas hold more species than the smaller areas;
Areas of varied climate and topography hold more species than the
areas of uniform climate and topography;
Areas at lower altitude (elevation) hold more species than the high
altitude areas; and
Less seasonal areas hold more species than the highly seasonal areas.

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If small tropical forest insects are discounted, then the areas that may
be similarly rich in species are:
Coral reefs; and
Areas of Mediterranean climate in South Africa and Western
Australia. These areas are rich in species, especially for flowering
plants (angiosperms).
NOTE:
The tropics between the latitude lines of the Tropic of Cancer and
the Tropic of Capricorn. The tropics include the Equator and parts of
North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
The tropics account for 36 percent of the Earth's landmass and are
home to about a third of the world's people.

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The Reasons for Greater Biodiversity in the Tropics:
The centers of greatest biodiversity tend to be in the tropics. The
reasons for greater biodiversity in the tropics are as under:
•Tropical areas receive more solar energy over the year. Therefore,
tropical communities are more productive resulting in a greater
resource base that can support a wider range of species.
•Warm temperatures and high humidity of tropical areas provide
favourable environmental conditions for many species that are unable
to survive in the temperate areas.
•Over geological times, the tropics have had a more stable climate
than the temperate areas. In tropics, therefore, local species continued
to thrive and live there itself; whereas, in temperate zones, they tend
to disperse to other areas.

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The Reasons for Greater Biodiversity in the Tropics:
•There has been more time for tropical communities to evolve as they
are older than temperate ones. This could have allowed tropical
communities greater degree of specialization and local adaptation to
occur.
•In tropics, the greater pressure from pests, parasites and diseases
does not allow any single species to dominate. Thus, there is
opportunity for many species to coexist. In temperate areas, on the
other hand, there is reduced pressure from pests, parasites and
diseases due to cold, and there is one or a few dominating species that
exclude many other species.
•In tropics, higher rates of out crossing among plants may lead to
higher levels of genetic variability.

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India as Mega-Diverse Biodiversity
Biodiversity has three aspects, viz. genetics, species and ecosystem.
India is recognized to be uniquely rich in all these three aspects. The
country has a rich heritage of biodiversity, encompassing a wide
spectrum of habitats from tropical rainforests to alpine vegetation, and
from temperate forests to coastal wetlands. Almost all the
biogeographical regions of the world are represented here in India. With
a mere 2.4% of the total land area of the world, the known biodiversity
of India contributes 8.22% of the known global biodiversity. India is one
of the twelve mega-diversity nations of the world accounting for 7.31%
of the global faunal and 10.88% of the global floral total species.
Currently available data place India in the tenth position in the world and
fourth in the Asia in plant diversity. In terms of number of mammalian
species, the country ranks tenth in the world; and in terms of endemic
species of higher vertebrates, it ranks eleventh. In terms of number of
species contributed to agriculture and animal husbandry, it ranks seventh
in the world.

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Some of the salient features of India’s biodiversity are as under:
•India has two major realms/areas called the Palaearctic and the Indo
Malayan; and three biomes, namely the tropical humid forests, the
tropical dry deciduous forests and the warm desert/ semi-deserts.
•India has ten biogeographic regions, namely the Trans-Himalayan, the
Himalayan, the Indian desert, the semi-arid zone, the Western Ghats, the
Deccan Peninsula, the Genetic plain, North-East India, the Islands, and
the coasts.
•India is one of the 12 mega-diversity nations of the world.
•India is one of the 12 centres of origin of cultivated plants.
•There are two hotspots that extend into India. There are the Western
Ghats/ Sri Lanka and the Indo-Burma region (covering the Eastern
Himalayas). Further these hotspots are included amongst the top eight
most important or hottest hotspots.
•India has 26 recognised endemic centres that are home to nearly a third
of all the flowering plants (angiosperms) identified and described to date.

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India has six Ramsar Wetlands. (The Ramsar treaty broadly
defines wetlands as: “… areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water,
whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that
is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine
water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.”
)They are –
Chilika Lake, Harike Lake, Loktak Lake, Keoladeo National Park,
Wular Lake and Sambhar Lake.
•India has 5 world heritage sites namely, Kaziranga National Park,
Keolades Ghana National Park, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Nanda
Devi National Park and Sundarban National Park.
•India has twelve biosphere reserves, namely Nilgiri, Nanda Devi,
Nokrerk, Manas, Sunderbans, Gulf or Mannar, Great Nicobar,
Similpal, Dibru-Saikhowa, Dehang Debang, Pachmarchi and
Kanchanjanga.

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•Further, amongst the protected areas, there are 88 national parks and
490 sanctuaries in India covering an area of 1.53 lakh sq.km.
•Based on a survey of about two-third of the geographical area of the
country, the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MOEF) reports that
India has at present 89,317 species of fauna and 45,364 species of flora
representing about 7.31% of the world fauna and 10.88% the world flora
described so far.
•In plants, the species richness is high in angiosperms, bryophyta and
petridophyta, and in the family orchidaceae. In animals, arthropoda
(insects) are predominant.
•India is also rich in agro-biodiversity. There are 167 crop species and
wild relatives. Further, India is considered to be the centre of origin of
30,000 to 50,000 varieties of rice, pigeon-pea, mango, turmeric, ginger,
sugarcane, gooseberries, etc. and ranks seventh in terms of contribution
to world agriculture.

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•India also boasts of rich marine biodiversity, along the coastline of
7516.5 km with the most productive ecosystems such as
mangrooves, estivaries, lagoons and coral reefs. The number of
zooplankton recorded is about 16,000 species. The benthic fauna
largely consists of polychaeta (62%), crustacean (20%) and
molluscs (18%) with the biomass of about 12 gm per sq.metre.
Over 30 species of marine algae and 14 species of seagrass have
been reported. There are over 45 species of mangrove plants. Over
342 species of corals belonging to 76 genera have been reported
and about 50% of the world’s reef building corals are found in
India.

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Role of individual in conservation of natural resources: water,
energy and food :
Conservation of energy:
1. Switch off light, fan and other appliances when not in use.
2. Use solar heater for cooking.
3. Dry the cloth in the sun light instead of driers.
4. Use always pressure cookers
5. Grow trees near the house to get cool breeze instead of using AC
and ai cooler.
6. Ride bicycle or just walk instead of using scooter for ashort
distance.

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Role of individual in conservation of natural resources: water,
energy and food :
Conservation of water:
1. Use minimum water for all domestic purposes.
2. check the water leaks in pipes and repair them properly.
3. Reuse the soapy water, after washing clothes for washing
courtyard, carpets etc.
4. Use drip irrigation.
5. Rain water harvesting system should be installed in all the houses.
6. Sewage treatment plant may be installed in all industries and
institution.
7. Continuous running of water taps should be avoided.
8. Watering of plants should be done in the evening.

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Conservation of soil:
1. Grow different type plants i.e trees, herbs and shrubs.
2. In the irrigation process, using strong flow of water should be
avoided.
3. Soil erosion can be prevented by sprinkling irrigation.
Conservation of food resources:
1.Cook required amount of food.
2.Don’t waste the food, give it to some one before spoiling.
3.Don’t store large amount of food grains and protect them from
damaging insects.
Conservation of forest:
1.Use non timber product.
2.Plant more trees.
3.Grassing must be controlled
4.Minimise the use of paper and fuel.
5.Avoid the construction of dam, road in the forest areas.

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Equitable use of resources for sustainable life style:
Sustainable development:
Development of healthy environment without damaging natural
resources.
Unsustainable development;
Degradation of the environment due to over utilisation of natural
resources.
Life style in more developed countries:
22% of world population, 88% of it’s natural resources and 85% of
total global income.
Consumption is more and pollution is more.
Source: http;//nprcet.org/e%20content/eee/EVS.pdf

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Role of individual in prevention of pollution: air and water:
•Individuals should minimize wastage of resources such as electricity.
Every unit of electricity saved is equivalent unit of electricity
produced as it not only saves the fuel that would be used to produce
that electricity, but also help to prevent pollution that is accompanied
by burning of that fuel. Therefore, person should always switch off
appliances when not in use.
•Individuals should prefer walking or use cycles instead of using
motor vehicles, especially when distances to be travelled are small.
•Individuals can make considerable contribution by using mass
transport (buses, trains, etc) instead of using personal vehicles.
•When going to workplace, colleagues from nearby localities should
pool vehicles instead of going in individual personal vehicles.
•Taking personal vehicles for periodic pollution checks at centres
approved by authorities.
•Individuals should reuse items whenever possible.

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•Products that are made of recycled material should be given
preference.
•Use gunny bags made of jute instead of plastic bags.
•Take part in environment conservation drives such as tree planting
drives.
•Use water resources efficiently.
•Use renewable resources by installing equipment such as solar
heaters and using solar cookers.
•Dispose potentially harmful products such as cells, batteries, pesticide
containers, etc properly.
•Use of refrigerators should be minimised wherever possible as they
are main source of CFC, which is responsible for Ozone layer
depletion.

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•Follow and promote family planning, as more population means more
resources utilized and more resources utilized imply more pollution.
•Avoid making noise producing activities such as listening to loud
music.
•Use handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues.
•Organize drives to clean streets and clean drains with help of other
people of locality.
•Spread awareness and inspire other people to prevent pollution.
Individuals should be encouraged to acquire information and
innovations from world over and implement them locally.

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26/08/2020
•Equitable uses of resources for sustainable livelihoods
• Environmental legislation: awareness and issues
involved in enforcement
• Role of information technology and media in
environment awareness/consciousness

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In last 50 years, the consumption of resource in the society has
increased many folds. There is a big gap in the consumers lifestyle
between developed and developing countries. Urbanization has
changed the life style of middle class population in developing
countries creating more stress on the use of natural resources. It has
been estimated that More Developed Countries (MDC) of the world
constitute only 22% of world’s population but they use 88% of
natural resources. These countries use 73% of energy resources and
command 85% of income and in turn they contribute very big
proportion of pollution. On the other hand less developed countries
(LDCs) have moderate industrial growth and constitute 78% of
world’s population and use only 12% of natural resources, 27% of
energy and have only 15% of global income.

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There is a huge gap between rich and poor. In this age of
development the rich have gone richer and the poor is becoming
more poorer.. This has lead to unsustainable growth. There is an
increasing global concern about the management of natural
resources. The solution to this problem is to have more equitable
distribution of resources and income. Two major causes of un-
sustainability are over population in poor countries and over
consumption of resources by rich countries. A global consensus has to
be reached for balanced distribution of natural resources.

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For equitable use of natural resources more developed
countries/rich people have to lower down their level of consumption
to bare minimum so that these resources can be shared by poor
people to satisfy their needs. Time has come to think that it is need
of the hour that rich and poor should make equitable use of
resources for sustainable development of mankind.
Note:
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs.

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Environmental legislation: Awareness and Issues involved in
enforcement
Environment legislations:
Article 48-A of the Constitution of India provides that the state shall
endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the
forest and wildlife of the country. Article 51-A imposes as one of the
fundamental duties on every citizen the duty to protect and improve
the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife
and to have compassion for living creatures.

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Environmental legislation: Awareness and Issues
involved in enforcement
The present legislative framework for environment
management in India is broadly contained in the umbrella
Environment Protection Act 1986, the Water (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Water Cess/tax Act
1977 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1981. The laws in respect of management of forests and
biodiversity are contained in the Indian Forest Act 1928,
the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the Wild Life
(Protection) Act 1972 and the Bio-diversity Act 2003. There
are several other enactments, which complement the
provisions of these basic enactments.

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enforcement
Now, India has a large number of environmental acts and regulations.
Pollution limits for various industries have been prescribed in the
Environmental Protection Rules 1986. Environmental clearance from
the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is mandatory for
setting up new industries in many sectors.
A list of major environmental acts and rules now in force in India can
be found in the website: http:// www.envfor.nic.in).

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enforcement
As we know, most of the problems of environmental degradation
arise because of the open access or common pool nature of the
environment. In view of this, where technically feasible and
economically viable, transforming the open access and common pool
environmental resources into some sort of state or private property
through the creation of property rights could resolve the problems of
environmental degradation.
An example of use of this measure is the privatization of degraded
revenue lands (state property) and village common lands (CPRs) in
West Bengal through granting of land pattas (leases) to individuals.
This helped resolve the problem of their degradation and
transformed those lands into productive private property (Singh,
1994 a: 149-163 and Singh and Shishodia, 2007: 221).

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ISSUES:
In India, more than three-quarters its population depends directly for
their livelihoods on activities based on natural resources and the
remainder of the population relies on these resources indirectly for
food, fuel, industrial output and recreation.
Their economic well-being is inextricably tied to the productivity of
natural resources and quality of environment. Sadly, most of the
natural resources including environment in India are in a serious state
of degradation. For example, agricultural lands suffer from soil
erosion, water-logging, salinity and general loss of fertility, making
them less productive, and water for drinking and irrigation is
increasingly getting scarce and polluted. Fishery yields are falling, and
air quality is deteriorating. Increasing levels of air, water and land
pollution pose a serious threat to human health and longevity. Good
management of natural resources and environment is essential to attain
and sustain economic growth and development. It is not, as is
sometimes mistakenly asserted, just a luxury for wealthy countries
concerned with aesthetics.

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Further, the fact that many communities who depend directly on
natural resources for their livelihood are very poor, ignorant, and
have no alternative employment opportunities means that they are
compelled by their circumstances to over-exploit and degrade the
natural resources accessible to them. Illicit felling of trees from
forests, hunting, encroachment of forest land, and poaching are some
of the activities resorted to by the communities, partly driven by
their basic needs and partly by greed.

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Another important economic reason for environmental degradation
is the fact that protection and conservation of environment has a
high opportunity cost, especially in developing countries like India.
One more is Technological breakthroughs in the agricultural sector,
which ushered in Green Revolution. For example, there has been
widespread adoption of high yielding varieties of crops of a few of
the major food grains crops such as rice and wheat in conjunction
with increased use of water, chemical fertilizers and plant protection
chemicals. This has led to the increasing uniformity within those
species and varieties of crops and hence the loss of biodiversity and
increased levels of degradation of land due to excessive irrigation
and pollution of water bodies due to leaching of harmful chemicals.

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To sum up, we could say that we now have the requisite knowledge of
tools, techniques and instruments of environment management
available in India and we also have a National Environment Policy .
What we need is a strong political will at the national and state levels
and a congenial political and economic environment to use appropriate
measures to mitigate the problems of environmental degradation in the
large interest of society as a whole.

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Role of information technology and media in environment
awareness/consciousness:
Information technology means collection, processing storage &
dissemination of information. IT plays a vital role in the field of
environment education. The internet facilities, information through
satellites, www and geographical information provides up to date
information on various aspects of environment and weather.

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Role of information technology and media in environment
awareness/consciousness:
INTRODUCTION
a) REMOTE SENSING: It refers to any method which can be used
to gather information about an object without coming in contact with
it. Gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic forces could be used for
remote sensing. Now remote sensing is used to denote identification
of earth features by detecting the characteristic electro magnetic
radiation.
Components Of A Remote Sensing System:
The system consists of a sensor to collect radiation. Other important
parts are a platform, an aircraft, a balloon, rocket and satellite. The
information received by the sensor is suitably manipulated and
transported back to earth. The data’s are reformed and processed on
the ground to produce photographs, computer compatible magnetic
taps and digital storage medium.

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Functions of remote sensing
1.Origin of electro magnetic energy.
2. Transmission of energy from the source to the surface of the earth
and its interaction with the intervening atmosphere.
3. Interaction of energy with the earth surface.
4. Transmission of reflected or emitted energy to the remote sensor
an a suitable platform through intervening atmosphere.
5. Transmission or recording of the sensor output.
6. Collection of ground truth and other information.
7. Data analysis and interpretation.

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Applications:
1. In agriculture → RS provide information about land, water
management, use of seeds, fertilizer input etc.
2. Forestry → Information on type ,density & extent of forest cover,
wood volume, forest fire, pest etc.
3. Land cover → Gives spatial information on land, RS data is
converted to map
4. Water resources → surface water body mapping, ground water
targeting, flood monitoring, water quality ,monitoring, run-off
modeling, irrigation water management.

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b) DATABASE (DB): It is the collection of inter related data on
various objects. In the computer the information of database is
arranged in a systematic manner.
Application:
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FOREST: compile data on
biotic communites, diseases like HIV, malaria, fluorosis.
NATIONAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
(NMIS):DB on R&D projects, research scientists etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (ENVIS) :DB on
pollution control area, clean technology, biodiversity, remote sensing,
environmental management, desertification etc

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c) GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM: It is a technique
of superimposing various thematic maps using digital data on a large
number of inter- related aspects.
Application: Different thematic maps having digital information on
water resources Soil type, forest land, crop land, grass lands are
superimposed on a layered form in computer using software.
Interpretation of polluted zones, degraded lands.
To check unplanned growth and related environmental problems.
d) SATELLITE DATA: It helps in providing correct and reliable
information forest cover.
Satellite data application in environment:
Provide information about forecasting weather, smog, ozone
depletion, Reserves of oil, minerals can be discovered.

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e) WORLD WIDE WEB(WWW): More current data is available on
world wide web.
The World Wide Web is the primary tool billions use to interact on the
Internet. Multimedia Digital content manager (DCM) in the form of
CD ROMS.
Application:
Online learning.
Digital files or photos, animations on environmental studies.
www create social awareness about environment around world.

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Role of Media in Environmental Awareness:
The role of media is very important in shaping public awareness
about environment awareness i.e. global climate change and
associated actions. When we discuss the role of media, we focus on
three key issues- to inform, to educate and to entertain. The different
media sources considered can be categorized as: (a) Mass media
(radio, television, newspaper, magazines, etc.) (b) Institutional media
(school, government officials or village leaders, etc.) (a) Mass Media
Environmental Awareness Created by Mass Media : One of the most
effective way of getting the message across to the largest possible
audience in a country as vast and diverse like India is through mass
media, including television and the English and vernacular press.
media plays a vital role in creative awareness or questions. Both
these media have the potential of being extremely effective tools for
environmental communication, but have not been sufficiently
exploited for this purpose so far.

8/24/2020 57
Most environmental documentaries shown on TV today attract few
viewers because of the academic or pedantic manner in which they are
presented. Similarly, although many English newspapers are now
carrying more and more features on environmental issues, they are
usually superficially researched and poorly written. Vernacular papers
still carry very little or no environmental news. Newspaper, radio and
television are the most widely and frequently used modern mass media
in India . Print Media (Newspapers) : Print media, which is still
dominant and most influential compared to electronic media can play a
big role in environmental protection. Environmental reporting can
contribute a lot for awareness. The concept of environmental
protection is a reality pertaining to livelihoods. A few print and
broadcast media had offered columns and feature programs on the
environment. But the overall coverage is quite primitive and limited.
Environmental reporting is a focused subject now.

8/24/2020 58
A media person can give general knowledge about waste concerning
the environment. Since independence, the number of Indian
newspapers has multiplied several folds. In the 1950s 214 daily
newspapers were published in the country. Out of these, 44 were
English language dailies while the rest were published in various
regional and national languages. This number rose to 2,856 dailies in
1990 with 209 English dailies. The total number of newspapers
published in the country reached 35,595 newspapers by 1993 (3,805
dailies). Today Indian newspapers are brought out in more than 93
languages and dialects. With an average of about 50 minutes the
daily amount of time spent on reading the newspaper, “the backbone
of news” in India, is considerably high. After Times of India
abandoned its weekly column, none of India’s daily newspapers has
a regular column on environmental news. The focus is mainly on
local and national issues like air, water and noise pollution as well as
deforestation. In contrast to that global environmental problems are
mentioned very rarely.

8/24/2020 59
A slight tendency towards a motivational coverage of environmental
issues can be observed in the regional language newspapers, e.g.
when enlightening farmers on the negative consequences of the use of
pesticides. Roughly, it can be said that India’s most important
newspapers like The Times of India, The Hindu, Hindustan Times and
The Indian Express have an article on environmental issues at least
every second day with Times of India doing the best job in terms of
frequency. There are many environment journalists who have chosen
their subject out of true commitment. Second, the issue of
environment is competing with all the other issues covered in the
newspapers whereby the most severe selection criterion is the news
worthiness of an issue. The interest of the reader as far as news on
environment is concerned is supposed to be still fairly low by the
editors. Nevertheless all of the interviewed editors and journalists felt
that there has been an increase in the number of articles on
environment both due to a higher awareness and interest of their
readers (this is especially true for the younger generation) and the
visible deterioration of the state of nature.

8/24/2020 60
Awareness campaign by Newspapers : Dainik Bhaskar campaign-
Daink Bhaskar a leading hindi newspaper of India started „Jal Bachao
Abhiyan‟ among its readers in different states and it had a great impact
on readers. „Jal Satyagrah‟ initiative is being organised for a decade in
the month of April and May by Dainik Bhaskar as a special drive in
summers. The objective of the campaign is to create awareness and
invoke individuals to 'Save Water'. The campaign encourages people to
take a pledge; inducing them to save 15% water in their daily usage.
The initiative received "Award of Honor" from Pawan Kumar Bansal,
Union Cabinet, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources.
To promote this cause the group, undertook various activities and
organised a conference with experts from UNICEF, UNESCO and
International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage. The initiative
reaches out to individuals via ads, full page editorial content on ways
to save water.In the next stage of Jal Satyagraha Campaign a detailed
coverage was carried out in all editions under a central plan, in which
awareness on scarcity of water and solution to it were covered.

8/24/2020 61
It included coverage on demand and supply of water at city level,
need of long term planning to meet the water demand, condition of
water network in cities need of its maintenance and cleaning and
maintenence of ponds, wells and baories.Neh It included coverage on
demand and supply of water at city level, need of long term planning
to meet the water demand, condition of water network in cities need
of its maintenance and cleaning and maintenence of ponds, wells and
baories more than bountiful on India.But today conditions are
different.Most of the lakes, rivers, wells and old baories are drying.
We have used this most precious gift of nature recklessly by not
giving a thought on recharge and maintainence of water resourses.
Radio : Radio is cheap and easily accessible medium. Its signals
cover almost the whole country. However, on average there are only
4.4 radio/transistors sets per 100 person. 80% of which are in urban
homes Only about six million sets left with 525 million rural
population. Furthermore the frequency of listening to the radio is
relatively low: only 35% of the interviewees declared to listen to the
radio regularly, most of them ranking between half an hour and two

8/24/2020 62
In addition to the relatively small number of people listening to the
radio the role of radio in creating environmental awareness cannot be
considered an important one due to the fact that there are only very
few regular environmental programs, although there is an instruction
by Supreme Court for all media that programs on environment
should be regularly broadcast. On the national level of broadcasting
news on environment are very scarce. If news on environment are
broadcast this is most often at the regional level. In short, radio is
well below its potential in creating environmental awareness and
over the last few years no increase in broadcasts on environment has
been observed. Television : India has more than 150 million TV
homes, of which 25% use direct-to-home satellite and 51% receive
cable TV. A TV digitisation drive is under way. There are nearly 800
licensed satellite TV stations. Around half of these are news-based
outlets, and news programmes often outperform entertainment
output.

8/24/2020 63
Doordarshan, the public TV, operates multiple services, including
flagship DD1, which reaches some 400 million viewers.
Multichannel, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV is a huge hit. Major
platforms Dish TV, Tata-Sky, Sun Direct, Big TV and Airtel Digital
TV have millions of subscribers. State-owned Doordarshan Direct
runs a free-to-air DTH service. The Above data shows that media
sensation has spread and spreading rapidly. Television has become a
new status symbol even in remote villages. A further advantage of
television as an educational media is that it is helpful in teaching
practical work. A televised presentation can be as clear as a face-to-
face demonstration. With an average amount of 138 minutes spent on
watching television per day and more than 50% out of all the
interviewees watching television two to three hours per day,
television dominates newspaper and radio not only in the frequency
of usage, but also in the amount of time spent on it. Discovery
Channel, National Geographic Channel and Animal Planet channel
are presenting wildlife and drawing common men‟s attention on
environment.

8/24/2020 64
A definite obstacle for environment playing an even more prominent
role in media is commercialization. Since many editors feel that “you
can get no money out of environment”, environment is not an
agenda. Awareness campaign : The nation's leading tv channel group
NDTV has launched a unique campaign in April 2008 NDTV Toyota
green campaign. This constant 24-hour program has stars and
celebrities participating in this program. It was an effort in creating
awareness for environmental issues among people. The campaign
started The Nobel laureate Dr. R.k. Pachauri, Jairam Ramesh
(honorable former minister of India, forest and environment) and
many film stars. A first-of-its-kind award in India, Green Awards aim
to recognise excellence in all sections of the society, Rural, Urban,
Corporate, Domestic, Educational Institutions and Resident Welfare
Associations. Godrej Group, along with NDTV, recently launched
India‟s first-of-its-kind environment-based reality show – „Green
Champion‟.

8/24/2020 65
Godrej Green Champion will focus on raising awareness of issues
that plague our environment. This reality show will emphasise that
the future of our nation lies in the hands of the youth. It will bring to
the fore key environmental issues and highlight the positive impact
created by even the smallest of „green‟ changes. Zee Media
Corporation Ltd, launched the fourth edition of India’s biggest
environment awareness initiative :My Earth My Duty‟. My Earth My
Duty has proven to be an essential platform provided by an Indian
media house in bringing behavioral change in Indian citizenship,
especially youth. The initiative has been able to sensitize and
encourage people to take adequate steps to conserve the Earth and
more so for our children and grandchildren.

8/24/2020 66
From the issues like pollution to the climate change, the media had
been playing a vital role in creating awareness and raise issues to the
pertaining topic of environment. The media has been pivotal in
covering the entire country of India in raising environment issues like
drought in Gujarat, Air pollution in Delhi, Ground water level
depletion in Chennai and pollution from coal mines in Jharia, west
Bengal. It is still to be confirmed that the role of mass media is one
of the most important factors underlying the knowledge of
environmental problems: This can only be true on the conditions that
first, mass media are accessible to large proportions of the
population, Zee Media has partnered with Ministry of Youth –
National Service Scheme (NSS) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan,
Para-military forces-Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border
Police, Central Reserve Police Force, ETF, Brahm Kumari Samaj,
Centre for Media Studies and others to maximize the reach and
impact of the initiative.

8/24/2020 67
second, are spending some time on environmental issues and third,
people are interested in information on ecological issues provided by
the media so that they view or listen to the corresponding programs
as well as read newspaper articles or other written publications
dealing with environmental issues. New Media ( Social Media and
Internet ) : There is a growing population of the young that are ardent
users of new media platforms. With Facebook or Twitter, youths
today are very much connected with each other and other global/local
issues through the internet. Social media platforms are also utilized
by industry and government agencies as a preferred tool of
communication with the general public. The number of internet users
in India has reached 354 million by the end of June 2015. The latest
figure indicates that India has more internet users than the population
of the US and become the second largest country by the number of
internet users after China. According to the report published by the
Internet And Mobile Association Of India (IAMAI), the internet

8/24/2020 68
Managed by Arghyam, the Portal has become a valuable archive of
resources, working papers, reports, data, articles, news, events,
opportunities and discussions on water.India Water Portal is a
platform that empowers the youth to share experiences and
solutions, talk to experts, join conversations and learn about the
work that others are doing to conserve our fast depleting water
resources. Institutional Media At present environmental education
has become an integral component of National Policy on Education
for the first time after independence. Now environment science has
become a compulsory subject in school and college education. The
policy states "there is a need to create consciousness of the
environment which must permeate all ages and all sections of the
society beginning with the child. Environmental consciousness
should inform teaching in schools and colleges and should be
integrated in the entire education process".

8/24/2020 69
Although there was no separate environmental education policy and
plan of action either at the Union or the State levels, environmental
education had been influenced by politics and plans of other sectors
and strategies of environmental education have been outlined stage-
wise and subject-wise in the National Curriculum Frame Work.
By scanning the curriculum evidence has been found that
environmental education concepts in terms of awareness and
knowledge seem to be adequately covered, while the development of
skills for the study of environment and environmental ethics,
attitudes and actions need strengthening (Bandhu, 1999). The most
recent developments are the introduction of Environmental Science
as compulsory course for all the undergraduates after the invention
of Supreme Court and the introduction of Environmental Studies as
a curricula area at primary stage. Environmental Studies combines
science with social studies and environment and stresses the link
between teaching and the immediate environment of the child.
Although the introduction of Environmental Studies in primary stage

8/24/2020 70
should definitely be welcomed, since it motivates children at an
early age to deal with problems of environmental pollution, it is too
early to evaluate how successful a subject like Environmental
Studies can be in creating environmental awareness and altering the
behavior of the children in an more environmentally friendly way.
The problem environmental studies has to face is a lack of teachers
that are competent to teach environmental issues.
At the upper levels, environmental concepts are extensively covered
in other subjects like science, geography, economics and sociology,
but there is no special subject focusing on environment and hence no
specific grade for knowledge on environmental issues. Through all
levels there should be a stress on local or national environmental
problems.

8/24/2020 71
Recent developments in the education at Indian schools like the
introduction of Environmental Studies definitively prove that as far
as educational policy is concerned there is an understanding for the
importance of promoting environmental issues. The introduction of
Environmental Studies as an independent subject is an example for
the upgrading of environmental issues and will enable teachers to
address ecological subjects more extensively and effectively.

Env edu 216 unit 1

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