WESTERN BUREAU– Starting next Monday, the South Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA) will be having a four-week summer camp aimed at sensitising over twenty 12 to 17 year olds about the need to protect their natural environment.

According to Hugh Dixon, executive director of the STEA, the camp aims to:

* expose children to Jamaica’s natural environment;

* showcase the Cockpit Country — home to several endemic species such as the Jamaican boa — and its biological diversity;

* and foster an understanding of the plants and their medicinal values.

The camp participants, Dixon pointed out, will also be exposed to lifestyle issues such as self esteem and HIV/AIDS.

“When they leave they should have a better sense of the importance of the natural environment,” he said.

The STEA is a non-governmental organisation that is responsible for the annual staging of the Trelawny Yam Festival, the conservation of the cockpit country, as well as soil conservation initiatives for Trelawny farmers who are renowned for yam cultivation.