| The goal of this project is to influence
and reduce environmentally damaging practices within
vulnerable areas of Uganda, with a focus on chimpanzee
habitat areas.
- To improve environmental education throughout Uganda
by training and supplying primary and secondary teachers
and community members with environmental knowledge,
skills, and curricula designed to encourage behavioral
change.
- To assist teachers and the Ugandan school system
to deliver environmantal educaiton curricula to 10,000
primary students and 400,000 secondary students over
a three-year period.
- To carry out a series of “sensitization”
visits for local leaders and politicians in order
to raise their awareness of environmental concerns
and the efforts needed to resolve them.
JGI-Uganda
is concerned that if the project targets only one cohort,
i.e. primary students, secondary students, or adults,
then the level of environmental awareness and sustainable
resource use required will be very difficult to achieve.
By targeting all three groups JGI-Uganda hopes to influence
as much of the population as possible, thus increasing
environmental awareness throughout Uganda at all levels.
The Primary School Program employs two teachers within
four different districts. The teachers are responsible
for taking the environmental education program to eight
different schools (each) over a period of three years.
Two hundred curriculum guidebooks have been printed
during the first three months of the project for primary
school teachers to use for the environmental education
program. In addition, 10,000 student handbooks have
been produced to aid teachers in raising environmental
awareness among primary school students. Only students
in grade five participate in this program, with the
average class size being between 100-150 students. At
the end of the three years, the project will have reached
between 10,000-15,000 primary school students.
The targeted Ugandan districts for the
primary school program are:
- Masindi (Budongo Forest Reserve)
- Hoima (Bugoma Forest Reserve)
- Kabarole and Kamwenge (Kibale National Park)
- Bushenyi (Kalinzu & Kitomi-Kasyoha Forest Reserves)
By focusing on these districts, JGI-Uganda will be
able to reach students and communities living adjacent
to the forests supporting Uganda’s main chimpanzee
populations.
In 2003, the education program was expanded, and the
schools with which JGI had been working were incorporated
into a more intense nine-week environmental education
program titled "Earth Education." Once this
program is completed, each class will form a Roots &
Shoots group that will continue to do work to improve
and protect their environment.
Our strategy is to educate students about the environment
and resources that they share with local wildlife. A
secondary school curriculum guide will be developed
for teachers. The guide will also help teachers to educate
students about the ecology of the great apes, their
distribution in Uganda, the important role the species’
play in forest ecosystems, and the threats to their
survival. This guide will be multidisciplinary, covering
subjects such as geography, mathematics, English, and
social studies. The guide has been designed to complement
the Ugandan national curriculum and will include lessons
that are presented in the national exams. This will
ensure that teachers continue to use the curriculum
guide.
During the second quarter of the second year of the
program, JGI will conduct a Training of Trainers (TOT)
workshop for 39 secondary school teachers. Teachers
participating in these workshops will then be responsible
to facilitate training workshops within their own districts.
There will be 156 workshops. A total of 3,120 secondary
school teachers will be trained, and approximately 400,000
students will receive lessons from the curriculum guide.
Due to the nature of the threats facing wildlife, JGI-Uganda
will also implement a strategy to educate community
members and elders. An understanding of the impact of
human activity on endangered species and threatened
habitat is urgently needed, particularly in those areas
where chimpanzees live outside protected parks and reserves.
It is estimated that approximately 200 chimpanzees are
living outside protected areas in Masindi and Hoima
districts. Approximately 500,000 people reside in these
two districts, where agriculture is the predominant
economic activity. Intensive agricultural practices
have led to deforestation and, consequently, loss of
critical habitat. Recent estimates suggest that over
300 sqare miles (800 sq km) have been lost in forests
outside protected areas in the past decade. With the
human population increasing at nearly three percent
per annum, it is expected that deforestation will continue
in these districts. It is critical, therefore, that
Ugandans fully understand the medium- to long-term consequences
of their practices. JGI will produce an Adult Earth
Education curriculum to help community members to understand
the basic ecological processes, to identify how they
impact on them, and lead them to taking actions to reduce
their impact on their environment. This will be implemented
in the same four areas as the primary school program.
Each year, 15 communities within each area will be
covered, with approximately 50 members attending each
course. This means approximately 9000 community members
will be reached. There will also be sensitization visits
for local leaders and politicians. They will be taken
to see the projects on the ground and also to their
local protected area. This will raise their awareness
of the environmental issues and also the efforts needed
to improve the current situation. Four sensitization
visits will be carried out each year, with an estimated
ten participants. This means that 320 decision markers
will be reached within the three-year period.
By educating
and engaging youth and their communities in the
environment, we create an understanding of the interconnectedness
of all living things and the role each individual plays
in shaping the future of our planet. This ultimately
has a positive effect on people’s values while
fostering a deep appreciation and concern for the environment.
|
