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和平队志愿人员在巴拉圭圣贝纳迪诺（San Bernadino, Paraguay）召开的第一届气候变化研讨会上发言。

美国国务院国际信息局(IIP)«美国参考» 从华盛顿报道，为了纪念地球日，世界各地的和平队志愿人员为所在社区的居民进行宣讲活动，提高人们的环保意识，更积极地保护当地的生态系统。志愿人员定期帮助各社区组织回收项目和环保青年俱乐部的活动，协助公园进行管理并为保护森林、土壤和海洋提供指导。

和平队队长亚伦·威廉姆斯（Aaron Williams）说：“和平队志愿人员在所在社区带头从事日常基层工作，促进环保意识和环境保护。无论是组织社区的垃圾清理活动，还是提高人们对使用替代性燃料的认识，志愿人员寻求各种可持续的解决方案，以满足全世界75个国家面临的各种最重要的环保挑战。”

和平队志愿人员中有13%的队员从事支持环保教育和提高环保意识的项目，4%从事农业项目。大多数志愿人员在服务期间参加与环保有关的各种项目，用各种方式帮助当地人民参与保护环境和保护自然资源的工作。

举例来说，世界各地和平队从事的环保项目包括：

和平队志愿人员中来自科罗拉多州柯林斯堡（Fort Collins, Colorado）的卡伊加·卑尔根（Kaija Bergen）和来自华盛顿州金斯敦市（Kingston, Washington）的珍·小泽-汉森（Jenn Ozawa-Hanson）和杰克·汉森（Jake Hanson）为他们所在的柬埔寨南部的一个村庄组织社区河流清理活动。550多名社区成员和当地学生分成三组，沿着3 公里长的河岸捡拾塑料袋、纸片和其他垃圾。河流清理工作结束时，来自弗吉尼亚州大瀑布市（Great Falls, Virginia）的埃里克·马汉（ Erik Mahan）和纽约卡南代瓜市（Canandaigua, New York）的凯蒂·斯特朗（Katie Strong）向河流清理活动参与者及当地的学校散发加强环保意识的教育资料。

--马拉维的节能炉灶

和平队志愿人员中来自马萨诸塞州弗雷明汉市（Framingham, Massachusetts）的约翰娜·墨菲（Johannah Murphy）和来自宾夕法尼亚州兰开斯特（Lancaster, Pennsylvania）的布赖恩·斯迈泽（Brian Smyser ）向数百位社区成员推广使用节约燃料型炉灶，努力降低毁林造成的影响。对环境无害的炉灶不仅将木材消耗量减少一半，而且使室内空气污染减少，煮食时间加快并节省费用。去年夏天，斯迈泽负责举办为期15周有关使用和生产节能炉灶的培训班，其重点在于说明节能炉灶是符合环保、健康和促进工商业的解决方案，有利于可持续发展。

--巴拉圭的气候变化研讨会

十八位和平队志愿人员与巴拉圭社区成员、伙伴组织及和平队职员共同组织在巴拉圭圣贝纳迪诺（San Bernardino, Paraguay）举行的第一届气候变化研讨会。来自巴拉圭各地的学生、教师、森林守护员和青少年领军人物出席为期三天的研讨会。会议的目的是提供关于气候变化的简单介绍以及它对地方、国家和国际产生的影响。在研讨会期间，与会者出席了与气候变化有关的各类题目的个案分析研究会、信息介绍会和小组讨论。与会者在研讨会结束时制订了将在其所在社区实行的行动计划。

Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2012/04/201204244500.html#ixzz1t82DNzGk

Peace Corps Volunteers Commemorate Earth Day

Washington — Peace Corps volunteers worldwide commemorated Earth Day by teaching people in their local communities to become more environmentally conscious and protect the local ecosystem. Volunteers regularly help communities organize recycling projects and environmental youth clubs, assist with park management, and provide guidance on forest, soil and marine conservation.

“Peace Corps volunteers lead daily grass-roots efforts in their local communities to promote environmental awareness and conservation,” said Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams. “From organizing community trash cleanups to raising awareness about alternative fuel methods, volunteers find sustainable solutions to address the most critical environmental challenges in 75 countries around the world.”

Thirteen percent of Peace Corps volunteers work on projects that support environmental education and awareness and 4 percent work on agricultural projects. Most volunteers participate in environment-related projects during the course of their service to help engage local people in ways to protect the environment and conserve natural resources.

Examples of Peace Corps environmental projects worldwide include:

• River Cleanup in Cambodia

Peace Corps volunteers Kaija Bergen of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jenn Ozawa-Hanson and Jake Hanson of Kingston, Washington, organized a community river cleanup in their southern Cambodian village. More than 550 community members and local students divided into three groups to collect plastic bags, paper and other litter from a 3-kilometer stretch of riverbank. Following the event, Peace Corps volunteers Erik Mahan of Great Falls, Virginia, and Katie Strong of Canandaigua, New York, distributed educational materials on the importance of environmental awareness to the cleanup participants and local schools.

• Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves in Malawi

Peace Corps volunteers Johannah Murphy of Framingham, Massachusetts, and Brian Smyser of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, are working to reduce the impact of deforestation by introducing fuel-efficient cookstoves to hundreds of community members. The environmentally friendly stoves not only cut wood consumption in half, but also produce less indoor air pollution, cook food faster and save money. Last summer, Smyser led a 15-week training session on the use and production of fuel-efficient cookstoves with a focus on the stoves as environmental, health and business solutions for sustainable development.

• Climate Change Workshop in Paraguay

Eighteen Peace Corps volunteers worked with Paraguayan community members, partner agencies and Peace Corps staff to organize the first climate change workshop in San Bernardino, Paraguay. Students, teachers, forest rangers and youth leaders came from all across the country to attend the three-day workshop, which was designed to offer a simple introduction to climate change and the local, national and international implications. During the workshop participants attended case study sessions, informational presentations and panel discussions on different topics related to climate change. At the culmination of the workshop, participants created action plans to implement in their local communities.

Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/04/201204234405.html#ixzz1t82i28f5