Short Note on National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC)

National Nature Camping Programme (NNCP) also known as National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC) is an important campaign of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India. This campaign was initially organised in 1986, with the objective of creating environmental awareness at the national level and, since then, it has become an annual activity.

This is one of the major programmes of the MoEF that targeted public participation in conservation and management of the environment. Every year, the MoEF selects NEAC activities with a fresh agenda and a new theme. It is a widespread outreach programme reaching out to grass-root levels of several sections of the society. The campaign follows a decentralised approach where the Regional Resource Agencies (RRAs) work with many of the non-government organisations (NGOs) on environmental protection. The flexibility of the interaction between the RRAs and the participating organisations makes the programme creative and workable, in spite of the vast numbers involved. The NEAC has managed some very creative programmes and useful resource materials, with the help of both RRAs and NGOs. The NEAC has been able to reach out to people through effective means, such as performing arts, debates, nukkad nataks etc. It has been realized that practical means of educating the masses are more effective than lectures and seminars. What are common among the preferred processes are the low cost, entertainment value, easy accessibility and comprehensibility.