BirdLife Malta held a presentation of awards for the primary schools that took part in Dinja Wahda during the last scholastic year. Dinja Wahda is BirdLife’s environmental educational school programme.

It was set up in 1994 with the aim of raising awareness on environmental issues and encouraging green living among schoolchildren and their teachers. Since then, the programme has been carried out more or less biennially, and has now reached over 80,000 students. This year, 76 primary schools (and about 20,000 individuals) took part in the Dinja Wahda programme sponsored by APS Bank.

The prize-giving ceremony was held at St Theresa Junior Lyceum. Commenting on the event, coordination team member Desiree Falzon said: “We are very happy with the participation of the schools and the enthusiasm of the students and teachers. Through Dinja Wahda, we can make children aware of nature and their responsibility to protect it. BirdLife strongly believes that environmental education at an early age is the key to a greener future.”

The Dinja Wahda education programme includes fun activities such as visiting nature reserves, planting trees for the Foresta 2000 afforestation project, establishing waste separation at schools and challenging politicians with questions about the environment at a Children’s Hearing in the presence of the Environment Minister. Dinja Wahda includes a competitive element by awarding points for every activity tackled.

This year, 37 schools received gold awards, four received silver awards, 10 schools received bronze awards and five merit awards. A further 20 schools received a participation certificate.

For more information about Dinja Wahda, please contact BirdLife Education Committee members Desiree Falzon on [email protected] or Theresa Cremona on 9929 4188.