Wild Asia - Launch of EE for Nature Clubs!

Launch of EE for Nature Clubs!

by Intan Shafinaz

Our Environmental Education (EE) Programme kicked off on 16th January, 2008 and is aimed at raising awareness about the natural environment. This education programme, "Discover Your Environment: From Hills to Seas", is produced by Wild Asia and is sponsored by CIMB Bank. SHAFINAZ SUHAIMI gives an overview of the whole programme.

Our children will soon grow up ready to take on the world, so they are our best bet in ensuring that any implemented environmental projects will be sustained in the long-term. The most effective way to assist in the development of a green conscience amongst the children is to start raising the awareness and to educate them about the environment.

With financial support from CIMB Bank, Wild Asia has successfully developed an environmental education module drawing from the experience of an environmental education specialist and a Tourism Malaysia "Green Badge" tour guide. The module integrates classroom sessions with outdoor nature field trips, which will undoubtedly make environmental learning fun and effective.

On January 16, 2008, the Environmental Education (EE) Programme was launched at Wild Asia's Natural Corridor Initiative (NCI) project site in Tanah Merah Oil Palm Estate in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The first school to implement this Programme is Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Ladang Tanah Merah, due to its proximity to the NCI project site.

Oil palm plantations may seem to be the most unlikely outdoor classroom for the children, but it does have its unique values. This particular outdoor classroom is a 4,500 hectare oil palm estate which has Janging River running through its plantation, linking up 280-hectare Siamang Hill in the middle of the estate with mangroves in the coast, thereby forming a 14-kilometer pathway amidst the sea of oil palms that will lead to larger forests and wetlands beyond the plantations' boundaries.

Phase One of the education programme, termed 'Discover Your Environment: Hills to Seas', includes, but is not limited to, subjects such as:

"There's Water in Those Hills"
"Shady Streams & Sunny Streams"
"Water Down the Drain"
"A Closer Look at Mangroves"
"That was the River, This is the Sea"

The school children will be actively involved in tree planting, water sampling, wildlife identification and learning how to maintain an environmental journal. Going outdoors will not only further strengthen what they have learnt in the classroom, but will result in the creation of a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the environment.

Green genes will definitely be ingrained into their DNA from there on.

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Original URL: http://www.wildasia.org/main.cfm/library/EE_Tanah_Merah_Launch

Published: 20 February 2008