world day of interconnectedness
World Wide Celebration of Interconnectedness on 9 September 2009
The purpose of this group is to organise a world wide interconnectedness event on 9 September 2009. Our vision is that on this remarkable day, in every country at 9 AM in every time zone (starting in Australia), all people who are aware of interconnectedness and who are committed to translate that awareness into action will practice interconnectedness as ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Jul 06, 2008
Updated: Sep 21, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
MELCA Mahiber
(a.k.a.: Movement for Ecological Learning and Community Action)
( Non Governmental Organization )
Organization Info [Edit]
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About [Edit]
MELCA (Movement for Ecological Learning and Community Action) was founded in 2004 by a group of environmental practitioners and lawyers. The organization arose out of their shared concern about the erosion and destruction of biodiversity and culture in Ethiopia. The word melca also means ‘ford’ in the Amharic and Oromo languages. It is a crossing point on a river, and is used symbolically to indicate the need to take people to a greater understanding and appreciation of traditional ecological knowledge.
The organization is registered with the Federal Ministry of Justice, certificate No. 1918 of 2004. It has a General Assembly led by Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, and a Board led by Dr. Melaku Worede. There are currently 18 members of staff including programme officers, administration and accounting.
MELCA aims to work for the revival and enhancement of traditional ecological knowledge and to protect the rights of communities to the same in Ethiopia. This involves research on policies, legislation and initiatives that affect culture and ecology relationships; advocacy and campaigning on community rights and the safeguarding of traditional ecological knowledge; capacity building and in-depth training through experiential learning, to educate youth and other change agents; and raising public awareness on culture, biodiversity and development issues, including culture and biodiversity celebrations.
It currently works with local communities, elders, schools and youth in the Sheka Forest region in southeast Ethiopia, the Bale Mountains National Park, and Menagesha Suba forest near to Addis Ababa. MELCA is also a regional node for the African Biodiversity Network.
