The SCENES concept

Scout Centres of Excellence for Nature and Environment (SCENES) provide an opportunity for Scouts to visit natural areas, engage in environmental education programmes and see first-hand examples of environmental management in practice. At present there is a global network of SCENES Centres and projects focusing on environment and community development issues in Switzerland, Columbia, Iceland, the U.S.A, Denmark, Australia, Turkey, the U.K, the Netherlands and South Africa.

Environmental conservation and preservation are hardest to introduce where poverty levels are high, and this applies to the whole of Africa, including South Africa. Forests are destroyed, precious water supplies contaminated, unsightly and unhygienic squatter settlements spring up, and in the battle for survival the need to preserve natural assets for the future well-being of the world are overlooked. Children brought up in such circumstances know no better than to consume what is available. By training them in more efficient means of utilising scarce resources, and by encouraging them to think about issues such as overpopulation, Aids, elimination of animal species, and pollution of earth, air and water, we are convinced that we can contribute towards achieving our mission to make the world a better place to live in.