Latest News: LIAT at Love & Rage, London 14/09/2026

What is Environmental Education and Why is it Important?

Environmental education is a learning process that increases public knowledge and awareness about the natural environment and its challenges, builds critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and fosters a commitment to responsible action.

Environmental education involves recognising the environment and local or global environmental challenges. It is important for everyone to gain insight into how ecological systems work and how humans interact with them for the human race to be able to effectively tackle climate change - we must all contribute for the survival of the human race and other species going forward!

We can improve attitudes and motivation for action in society by fostering a sense of environmental stewardship. This can be done by developing a personal concern for environmental quality and the drive to maintain it. Learning how to identify, analyse, and resolve environmental problems through critical thinking rather than adopting a biased viewpoint is a valuable skill in caring for the environment.

Anyone can take on a mindset on environmental stewardship by making the effort to educate themselves on pressing topics of climate change issues and the future of Earth.

Engaging in hands-on activities and community efforts will result in positive local change, and may lead to the creation of wider projects with national or even international reach - by joining our WhatsApp community, you become a member of LIAT (free) and can propose new projects for local or wider projects to plant trees, protect trees, educate others about nature, and much more.

These opportunities for advancing environmental education matter because learning about nature equips individuals to make informed, responsible decisions regarding resource use and sustainability. As part of our commitment to supporting UN SDG 13.3, we aim to build human capacity to combat climate change around the world.

Why is environmental education lacking?

While in the wealthy Western world we are privileged to have excellent educational systems that include comprehensive geography and environmental matters, fostering environmental stewardship, many children around the world do not have the opportunity to learn such subjects – WHY?

Why can some countries easily teach children about the importance of protecting the environment, while other countries put this subject at the lowest priority or abandon it entirely?

It is not easy to identify a single cause, because it could be anything, but some potential reasons include:

Poor economy - Countries prioritising teaching their children business matters or labour skills that they can use to boost the country's economy (this has been reported in Pakistan). They may also have a lack of funds to support teaching content outside of the primary subjects.

Strict religious/ideological laws - Countries governed by highly religious parties or terrorist groups may implement hardline laws controlling what is included in the curriculum taught in schools. For example, the Taliban in Afghanistan has replaced science and secular subjects with religious studies.

Political influence - Corrupt leaders or influential companies may prevent educational bodies from teaching green subjects in order to protect oil, logging, or mining jobs.

War and crisis - Countries engaged in war or dealing with major disasters must focus entirely on safety and survival, and children in school during that time may miss out on some subjects.

How can we help?

LIAT aims to introduce elements of environmental education into these regions to encourage interest among children and the general public about the importance of the natural world, and in particular, how trees are important in their daily lives.

As we are based in the UK and currently do not receive any funding, we are unable to travel internationally on a self-funded basis. However, here are some of the ways we can carry out educational initiatives remotely:

Distributing materials to schools

We have produced several practical and educational materials for the purpose of increasing one's knowledge of trees and their significance to the world. The primary resource we wish to share with schools is our educational website, treefunfacts.com, which explains all aspects of trees, including various species around the world, their importance to humans and wildlife, practical usage, the scientific wonders behind how they work, and overall why we should respect and appreciate trees in our everyday life. The site is maintained regularly and is rigorously fact-checked to ensure factual integrity that is suitable for educational applications. This is an easy, straightforward way to instantly get school-children involved in learning about the subject of trees and to pique their initial interest.

We hope to produce printed materials containing the essential facts in several languages, while also including details on how to easily translate the website using online tools built into mobile and desktop web browsers.

Supporting tree planting efforts

With the right funding, we may be able to provide the financial and logistical assistance required for schools to carry out small-scale tree planting efforts and demonstrate to pupils how trees should be correctly planted and the important of being involved in the planting of new green life in one's local area for the benefit of both humans and wildlife in the surroundings.

Guest feature on radio shows

In English-speaking regions, we can feature as guests on local and national radio stations to promote the cause of environmental education, discuss why it is needed in their country, and how we can collaborate with local authorities to help them achieve a more educated and environmentally conscious nation.