The forests which covered the hills around my village in Sierra Leone disappeared over the years as villagers cut them down for firewood. So I decided to replant them. Now, with the support of my community, my friends and I grow seedlings and plant hundreds of trees every year.
Kaloko Abma, 20

Chemicals pumped into the air and water from local industries had severely damaged the environment of my valley town of Horlivka in the Ukraine. The air and waters were dangerously polluted, the trees and wildlife were dying and the children were getting sick. I set to to rally the support of school eco-groups in the area, as well as local governmental and environmental groups, to clean up the waste and replant the damaged forests that lined the hillsides. My local community was sceptical at first but soon the local government provided transport to remove the waste from the clean-up sites, and 53 new school eco-groups were created by young people inspired by our example.
Ann Kokosa, 16

Rotting rubbish lying all over the Ogige market in Nigeria was spreading filth and infection. I organized a big clean-up campaign and publicized it, to stop local traders continuing with their method of 'anyhow garbage disposal'. Using volunteers from the local state prison, we showed that everyone can do something to help the environment.
Daniel Onyi Eboh, 23

Arabian clean-up

On 17 October 2003, more than 450 divers, snorkellers and other volunteers joined the Clean-up Arabia event and collected around 2,000 kilos of rubbish from beaches along the coast of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

PHOTO: BERT WIKLUND/UNEP/TOPHAM