UNHCR / Xavier Bourgois
It is April 22nd. It is a day, like all others, where we must thank Mother Nature - the Earth - for all the gifts of nature that she blesses us with.
Despite Mother Nature’s generous treatment, we have not repaid her with the same love and respect that she gives to us. Not even close. From burning fossil fuels, mass deforestation to endangering species and biodiversity, many of us humans have been the creators of immense destruction in our planet and, if we continue to be, we will only see our demise in the future. However, I do not write to incite panic or to instil helplessness as they are the last things that will aid us to a more sustainable planet. I write this to remind that action needs to be done.
Fortunately, around the world, there has been numerous initiatives to take better care of our collective home - the planet Earth. They are initiatives that will help us undergo the gradual transition from our damaging ways to a more sustainable future. A notable example is the building of the ‘green refugee camp’ in Cameroon.
Minawao Camp
UNHCR / Xavier Bourgois
In the Far North of Cameroon, looking from above, speckles of green are scattered across the sandy landscape nestled between a huddle of brown boxes. When you look closer, you can see that this is Minawao camp - a temporary shelter for 63,000 refugees fleeing violence in neigbouring Nigeria but also a revolutionary “green refugee camp.”
LWF / Albin Hillert
Since 2017, UNHCR and Land Life Company, supported by the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, have joined forces to build this Green Refugee Camp. The aim of this initiative was to turn austere refugee camps into a eco-friendly and safe community of refugees waiting for their asylum process. So, in Minawao, trees are being planted, eco-friendly cooking fuels are used and sustainable shelters are replacing plastic tents.
From left to right: UNHCR / Xavier Bourgeois, LWF / Albin Hillert, LWF / Alvin Hillert
Impacts
Working alongside the refugee and local communities around the Minawao refugee camp, the initiative has reaped many benefits for the environment. It has successfully reforested 100 hectares of severely degraded land. The initiative has also introduced sustainable food production methods into community, which will result in 2,160 tons of cashews produced over 20 years and 8,400 tons of neem oil over 40 years. But the wonders of this initiative goes beyond the environment as it has created 175 local jobs and transformed a temporary shelter for refugees to a more happy home.
UNHCR / Xavier Bourgois
A unique refugee camp
Minawao camp serves as a great contrast to the many refugee camps around the world, where many individuals are forced to live in plastic tents set up in inhumanely constricted areas with rubbish scattered around the living space. Amidst this calamity, many refugees feel unsafe, unwanted and unhappy. However, in comparison to the horrors they faced before fleeing, to many refugees, even with the harsh state, these camps may be more of a home than home will ever be.
Yet, this does not mean we - the privileged who has the safety of clean and healthy home environment - should acquiesce the settlement of refugees into these catastrophic camps. In fact, we must be the ones at the forefront of creating an environment, where both Mother Nature and desperate individuals feel taken cared for. On Earth Day, let us join together to pledge our commitment to crafting a more sustainable future and celebrate this, who have began to blaze the trail.
UNHCR / Xavier Bourgois
Alisha Bakrie
Sources: Text
https://landlifecompany.com/case/building-a-green-refugee-camp-with-unhcr/ https://www.unhcr.org/gr/en/cameroon-minawao-the-green-refugee-camp-2
Photos
UNHCR / Xavier Bourgois
LWF / Alvin Hillert