Ideas for Venezuela's environment

6) ENVIRONMENT

This is part of all the ideas for Venezuela.

6.1. TEACH CHILDREN IN SCHOOL TO THINK AND ACT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT:
Schools need to teach children more about the environmental problems looming. Children must show they can actively discuss (presentations, works) about such issues as the effects of throwing rubbish everywhere (almost a Venezuelan hobby), about the pollution caused by cars and planes, about the species in danger in Venezuela, about water pollution. They should present at least one work (preferably presentations) every second year during their primary and secondary studies.

6.2. INTRODUCE VERY HIGH FINES FOR POLLUTING:
Very high fines should be introduced for those polluting national parks (also just throwing litter there). This seems quite obvious, it is not in Venezuela.

6.3. INTRODUCE RECYCLING IN VENEZUELA:
Recycling should be introduced gradually in Venezuela. Firstly, glass containers should be placed in well designed places as they are in Europe.















6.4. TAX SUVS:

SUVs should be more heavily taxed than other vehicles and the money should be invested in public transportation.

6.5. ESTABLISH BINDING PLANS FOR CLEANING UP THE ENVIRONMENT: RIVERS, AIR, BEACHES:

Local governments need to have very concrete goals about how to recover areas that have been geologically damaged. For instance: authorities need to reduce the pollution getting into the Cabriales river in Carabobo step by step, from its source to its end, until it is again a clean river. They should also control the sewage systems going to the Caribbean AND publish online on a page of the Ministry for Environment what studies have been done and what the level of pollution in the different places is. People should be able to verify this information and report irregularities there.

6.6. PRODUCE A SPECIAL RESCUE PROGRAMME FOR THE VALENCIA LAKE: The Valencia lake needs to be rescued from its incredible pollution and transformed into a tourist attraction.
For that, we need to:

• Have a comprehensive list of all polluting agents (which companies, which areas)
• Make the list of culprits publicly available
• Propose a concrete schedule for cleaning up the mess (agents need to be fined if they do not comply with stringent environmental norms, the government must speed up the development of water recycling mechanisms)
• create tourist attractions (after an open bidding: boats, restaurants, permanent security to visit the couple of existing islands)
  

6.7 CREATE A COMMISSION FOR FISHERIES AND SUSTAINABLE FISHING IN VENEZUELAN WATERS:

Right now the European Union, Japan and other countries are plundering the seas of poor nations to get the fish they cannot catch anymore in their countries. Overfishing has taken dramatic proportions. The Venezuelan government needs to develop a clear policy to guarantee that Venezuelans get fish first and that stocks can always recover.
Check The End of the Line for more on this.