With great pleasure Action For Nature announces its 2010 International Young Eco-Hero Awards, which recognize young people 8 to 16 years old for their environmental achievements. We hope the accomplishments of these outstanding young people will inspire many others to preserve and protect the Earth upon which all life depends.

Winners are divided into two groups, age 8-13 and 14-16.

Age Group 8 - 13

First Place

Alexander
Age 13
Maryland, USA
Protecting horseshoe crabs

Digging in the sand one day on the beach, Alex found clear orbs with “alien-looking creatures swimming inside.” Curious, he rushed home and researched them. He discovered that they were the unhatched eggs of the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. Horseshoe crabs have lived on the earth for at least 450 million years. These animals are especially important because their blood contains a substance called Limulus amebocyte lysate, or LAL, that can save human lives by detecting harmful bacteria in tests on surgical instruments and prescription drugs.

Alarmed to learn that the horseshoe crabs are threatened by human activities, Alex wanted to help protect them. He began participating in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources project called “Horseshoe Crabs in the Classroom.” He also created an awareness campaign, Planet Horseshoe Crab, with logo and information cards to spread the word that we share this ecosystem – we’re all connected.

Wanting to do even more, he aided in creating the Chesapeake Conservation Center to protect the horseshoe crabs, and helped fund it with birthday and holiday savings. He also created horseshoe crab information cards and T-shirts. To continue researching the crabs, he received an Aquatic Research Education grant.

Alex also met with the mayor to talk about how he could spread awareness to local residents and encourage them to help protect the crabs. The mayor generously supported Alex’s efforts and had two of his information boards made and installed at a museum beach and nature park.

Last fall Alex developed a Planet Horseshoe Crab curriculum, and the Annapolis Maritime Museum invited him to teach Horseshoe Crab ecology to first through eight graders.

Alex’s work continues. In addition to conducting classes, he manages his organization and conducts surveys on the horseshoe crabs. He organized and runs a Naturalist Club to connect people with nature. He is the student advisor for The Terrapin Institute, working to protect the dwindling sandy beach habitat critical to the preservation of horseshoe crabs and other species. Alex also created another sign for the beach near his house – the beach where he first found the clear orbs, the eggs that started it all.

http://cc-center.org/projects/planet-horseshoe-crab

FIRST PLACE

Felix
Age 12
Germany
Inspired youth worldwide to plant over one million trees

Felix was inspired by the work of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who planted 30 million trees in 30 years. Felix told his classmates, “Let’s get children all over the world to plant one million trees in their countries.”

What started off as a small class presentation quickly grew into a global youth effort to protect the environment. Felix presented to other classes and schools in Germany, recruiting youth for his cause. Invited to speak at the 2009 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Tunza Conference in South Korea, he urged other youth to take up the cause around the world. Five hundred youth from 54 countries responded.

Felix joined the United Nations organization, Plant-for-the-Project, where he now serves as a spokesperson. He was elected by youth to serve on the Tunza Junior Board, which advises UNEP on how to best appeal to and educate youth around the planet about environmental issues.

Already one million trees have been planted in Germany, and Felix continues his international effort to encourage young people in other countries to match his goal.

http://plant-for-the-planet.org/

SECOND PLACE

Sarah
Age 10
New York, USA
Supports environmental causes through her lemonade stand and website

Sarah Connor doesn’t like seeing things in trouble, she said. That’s why she started her lemonade stand when she was five years old. She’s “saving the earth one cup at a time,” donating all of the proceeds to various non-profits and causes, including international disasters.

Sarah grew concerned about the environment after reading “An Inconvenient Truth” when she was 7. She encouraged her family to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle. Then, for Earth Day 2009, she decided to turn her lemonade stand into a non-profit organization called Project LemonAid. Her current goal is to raise $4,000 to replace twenty trees in her town that were cut down.

In addition to regularly selling lemonade – and hot chocolate in the winter – and talking with customers about the environment, Sarah reaches out to others by making presentations to local community groups. She’s solicited donations from local organizations and toy companies, and held raffles to raise money.

She also has a Web site, http://www.projectlemonaid.org/, which provides youth with letters they can send to world leaders, as well as information about the environment. She also filmed and edited a video for a national Parent Teacher Alliance arts competition called “Beauty is Disappearing,” and won first place in her county.

Sarah believes that taking care of the earth is a big responsibility.

Second Place

Liam
Age 11
Colorado, USA
Started a Community Garden Project

Every day on his way home from school, Bane passed an unused patch of land full of weeds. The lot belonged to a neighbor and Bane saw potential. He wanted to turn the lot turned into a community garden.

With the support of his family, Bane received permission to use the land to start a large garden project. He received help from friends, and together they leveled the land and planted a sustainable, organic garden that serves both the community and the local wildlife. He also started community composting, making sure no weed killers or synthetic fertilizers were used which would have contaminated local water supplies

The outskirts of the garden feature plants for local wildlife; at times he could count as many as fifty birds feasting on the sunflowers. And the fenced inside serves as a vegetable garden. The community shares the bountiful harvest which is so much better than food purchased from far away sources.

“I’m most proud of having this garden and having all the support we had,” Bane says. “I just enjoy giving.”

Next year he will enlarge the garden, and will also include a flower bed for the enjoyment of senior neighbors.

Honorable Mention

Brandon
Age 9
Florida
Raising funds, increasing awareness about chimpanzees

Brandon wanted to have a pet chimpanzee. But after learning about the abuse of chimpanzees in medical research laboratories and in the entertainment industry, he changed his mind. He discovered that like humans, it’s hard for chimps to be separated from their families and homelands. He knew how that felt because his father was working overseas.

During his research Brandon learned about the nonprofit organization Save the Chimps, which provides twelve islands in Florida where chimps can live in safety and comfort. He decided that instead of getting a pet chimp, he would raise money to help transport a chimp from a biomedical research laboratory to the sanctuary.

Since December 2009, Brandon has raised more than $1,500 to enable chimps to be transported to the sanctuary. Brandon will continue his fundraising until he meets his target of $2,500.

In addition to fundraising, Brandon started a blog to educate people about chimpanzees and how they are mistreated by trainers and in laboratories. Brandon wrote his Congressperson in support of the Great Ape Protection Act, and gathered signatures for a petition supporting the Act. He has also collected blankets and treats to mail to different sanctuaries. “I have learned,” he says “that chimps have been in labs for years and people need to help them.”

http://www.firstgiving.com/migrateboy
Make a Chimp Smile (Facebook)

HONORABLE MENTION

Aitan
Age 13
California, USA
Distributed worldwide a song he wrote and composed about global warming

Aitan combined his love for the environment and animals with his love for music. To raise awareness about climate change, he wrote and composed the song “100 Generations,” which is about the threat of global warming. He has recorded children all over the planet singing it.

He started a non-profit organization called KidEarth to encourage youth around the world to sing “100 Generations” and to learn about climate change. He provides the lyrics and the music on his Web site, www.kidearth.us. Children from many countries, including Botswana, Guatemala, Ethiopia, France and Taiwan, are singing his song. He also sells his recording of the song and donates the profits to environmental charities.

“My project persuades people by creating something that they will stop and listen to and remember,” he says.