FZ-"Gaja" - Szczeciński Oddział FZ(formerly Informal Ecological Movement GAJA)
c/o Tomasz Perkowski, Szafera 74/3
71-246 Szczecin
GB No. 12, winter 1994
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Did you know that... 38% of Poles claim that ethnic minorities may do harm to Poland. 45% of Poles assert that minorities are of no benefit to Poland. 72% agree with the opinion that it is the German minority that harms Poland, while 29% of Poles accuse Jews and Ukrainians (according to the Institute of Social Research in Sopot). "Foreigners exploit the Poles to their own profit," say 63% of Poles. 52% put the blame on the Germans; and 36% - on the Jews. (according to the PENTOR Institute) |
The German Youth Organization for Nature Studies met with the Informal Ecological Movement GAJA at an ornithology station near the Widwie Lake reserve. Both organizations spent two weeks together exploring nature and exchanging their experiences. There were also three Swedish people from Faltbiologerna and one Latvian from Coalition Clean Baltic. A lot of the participants studied biology or other ecological subjects.
The Widwie reserve was a veritable paradise for foreigners who could observe there species which are very rare in their countries.
The camp was financed by participants' money and support from the Polish-German Youth Organization and Coalition Clean Baltic. The ornithology station did not take any fees from the young ecologists, but the participants left a list of the species they had identified in the reserve. The station has good documentation about the birds living in the reserve but only a little about insects and plants. The German biologists dealt with this task, and they were going to add pictures and their own commentary to the report.
We developed our knowledge at lectures about the Widwie reserve, the Odra River Park, and the hydrological situation in Poland. The foreigners taught Poles to identify animals.
The lecture about dragonflies was the most interesting for me. Every listener identified the species of the insect he had caught before (keeping a dragonfly in one's hand is not harmful for it if one is careful of the delicate wings). Most of the participants visited Wolinski National Park, the Odra River Park, and Police, a big chemical factory. It would seem impossible but a lot of water birds live near the factory's sewer. Some people were interested in deep ecology so we invited Marzena Owczarzak from Pracownia na rzecz Wszystkich Istot (Workshop for All Beings) to lead the Council of All Beings.
We wanted to get involved in work on the reserve but the station did not have equipment, so we could not do it.
The Informal Ecological Movement GAJA, which generally deals with actions like planting trees, organizing ecological lectures and games for schoolchildren, and working on other social projects, had an occasion to learn a lot from its new naturalist friends from abroad. The collaboration was successful and we plan to organize future meetings in Germany, Sweden, and Poland.
Address:
FZ-"Gaja" - Szczeciński Oddział FZ
(formerly Informal Ecological Movement GAJA)
c/o Tomasz Perkowski, Szafera 74/3
71-246 Szczecin
or:
Biuro Ekologiczne Federacji Zielonych
Kolumba 86/89 room 105, Szczecin
tel. (48-91) 34 60 82
fax. (48-91) 33 60 53
E-mail:
GAJA-PL@AMAZONAS.COMLINK.APC.ORG