A living advocate for the environment Join us on for World Migratory Bird Day in May

LIRA JALANDONI was a member of the Haribon-university of the Philippines Los Baños group when the organization used to form chapters at different universities and colleges. Lira was the publication committee head, and they were able to publish Earth Alert, an environmental newsletter during her time.

Currently working at the Supreme Court as a trainings specialist, Lira, due to her busy schedule, misses being at the forefront of environmental advocacies; thus when she stumbled upon Haribon while shopping, “I immediately I filled up the form, scanned and submitted it online,” Lira mentioned.

As a Haribon member, Lira enjoyed various activities of Haribon whenever she has a chance to attend. Lira said, “I recently completed the learning sessions, which was very informative and enriching. It refreshed my knowledge on biodiversity and gave me updates on the prevailing environmental issues. In the past, I have also joined Haribon’s basic drawing/oil pastel sessions.”

Lira is supporting the Supreme Court’s “Zero Waste Court.” Efforts had been undertaken to orient the employees on Solid Waste Management and waste segregation now being practiced.

Lira added, “My personal advocacy, also in support of our organization’s zero waste court, is going back to the basics. Everything we need is found in nature. Everything in nature can be decomposed and will not harm the environment. Commercialization has flooded us with synthetic products that harm and pollute the environment. We are often enticed to buy things that we really don’t need and they end up in the trash. Most of these are made of plastic.”

Lira stayed true to the beliefs and advocacies of Haribon. “It is having a healthy respect for the environment, living simply, and be a living advocate for the environment”, she added.

She hopes that someday, people will work together towards a unified goal with genuine love for nature. “That everyone will do their part in the preservation and conservation of the natural resources. We can achieve this by living modestly. Greed has poisoned the minds of people to exhaust and abuse our natural resources. Everyone should be a healthy respect for the environment,” Lira stated. WE invite everyone to join us to celebrate, protect and raise awareness for migratory birds this year on May 12 to 13. On the second weekend each May, people around the world take action and organize public events to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (Wmbd)—such as bird watching trips, public discussions, exhibitions, presentations, bird rallies, bird festivals and other educational and public events.

World Migratory Bird Day 2012 and this year’s theme “Migratory birds and people-together through time,” will stress the indispensible relationship between birds and people. When one starts to really think about the cultural, social, historic, economic and spiritual connections we have with birds, it becomes clear that birds and people are inseparably connected in many different ways and on many different levels.

Migratory birds can cross the entire globe during their journeys, ignoring national borders and connecting the world with their migration routes. Unfortunately, human activities including land use, hunting and pollution now gravely threaten world migratory bird populations. The phenomenon of bird migration is crucial to the web of life, as migrating birds act as indicators of changing seasons and climate change and provide essential ecological services to the ecosystems we rely on. We must protect and raise awareness about the threats migratory birds face. We must do this to ensure that our cultural ties to migratory birds and the economic and environmental needs sustained by migratory birds remain safe.

For information updates about 2012 World Migratory Bird Day and to view the WMBD Trailer on our information page, log on to worldmigratorybirdday, or call contact@worldmigratorybirdday.org.