www.epa.ie

The Environmental Protection Agency's mission is to "promote and implement the highest practicable standards of environmental protection". A good start towards this is to create a bright and attractive website which is full of information, and that is exactly what they have done. Learning that the agency has a commitment to developing educational projects and publications will be a boon to anyone doing an essay, project or dissertation on environmental issues.

www.earthwatch.org

Earthwatch operates on the very simple notion that if you involve the general public in the process of science you give them understanding and the world a future. Their mission is to "promote sustainable conservation of our natural resources and cultural heritage by creating partnerships between scientists, educators and the general public". Their research section covers a very wide variety of endangered ecosystems in a thoughtful and interesting style.

www.foe.org

Friends of the Earth's slogan is "Fighting environmental destruction where it begins". To this end, they recently had a campaign inviting supporters to call or e-mail the White House to protest about what they call "President Bush's attack on the environment". It is the largest international environmental network in the world with affiliates in 63 countries, so when FOE organises the eco-troops for a battle, those on the infringing side better sit up and take notice.

www.ollierecycles.com

The Ollie Recycles site was created to help children find out about the 3R's - "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle." It aims to be a gateway to an array of environmental information that encourages children to think about their everyday activities and consider their impact on the environment. The section for teachers is good, though designed for people in Britain, the US and Australia. Still worth seeing for any teacher looking to gets kids interested in the environment.

childrenoftheearth.org

The Children of the Earth United (www.childrenoftheearth.org) mission statement says that "at this time of global imbalance, we believe it is imperative that the children of the earth join together to create a healthier planet". It uses situations such as the potential extinction of the eastern panther to make children aware of environmental issues (it certainly helps that this particular panther is very photogenic). This is a very good site for parents to view with their children.