Student-led environmental group Daejayon held an environmental forum on Aug. 13, drawing ambassadors, dignitaries and university students.

Dusan Bella, Slovak Ambassador, Mesfin Midekssa, minister counselor of the Ethiopian Embassy, and Kim Yong-gap, president of Daejayon, were among the 700 people attending the forum.

Slovak Ambassador Bella commended the event, calling the students and other participants “the future of this planet.”

“I am very glad to observe that Daejayon is becoming a driving force of harmonious coexistence of human and nature not only in university areas and campus grounds, but it is also reaching out to local administrations, businesses and the general community.”

“My personal ambition is to make Daejayon known not only in my country Slovakia, which is located in the heart of Europe, but also in the whole Central European region,” said Bella.

“I cannot wait to see your new ideas and creative efforts be introduced at the 2012 World Conservation Congress,” said Kim Chong-chun, secretary general of the WCC’s Korean Organizing Committee.

The annual event was held in order to stir interest in conservation and expand networks as a frontrunner for the World Conservation Congress held by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in September.

Also supported by the Gabonese, Slovak and the Ethiopian embassies, the forum was host to university students from many countries, including the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and the Mercu Buana University in Indonesia.

Also presenting was Nam Sang-min, an environmental affairs officer at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Daejayon, whose name means “great nature” in Korean, runs extensive Green Campus, Green School and Green World projects to raise awareness of the reality of climate change and urge people to take action.

First started by university students to carry out cleanup projects ahead of the 2002 World Cup, the organization re-launched on a grander scale in 2008 as the Lee Myung-bak government focused on green growth and sustainable development.

Daejayon is now a member of the IUCN and will host campus conservation seminars at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, to be held with organizations from 150 countries on Jeju Island this Sept. 6-15.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)