All member of the club “Join me to protect Pu Mat Forest” commited “Three NO
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School program
Students visited the Open Museum of Nature and Culture
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Students observed nature with binoculars for the first time
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Students enjoy tracing animals at the Nature Experiential Education Area
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Raising awareness and educating the community, especially children in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park is one of SVW's long-term strategies that aims at forming a future generation with positive attitudes and behaviours towards wildlife while reducing unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Our program "Join me to protect Pu Mat forests'” is aligned with the environmental education curriculum at schools carried out by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, as well as general policies of the government in the field of nature conservation and wildlife management. More than 4,500 primary and secondary students in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park were engaged in this program, gaining more knowledge, and proudly contributing to the protection of Pu Mat National Park when possible. Visual posters, handbooks, and other materials were distributed to schools to continue spreading the word of conservation.
The program consists of 5 different activities:
- Social research was conducted before and after the program to assess the impacts
- A student club at each school was established
- A broadcasting program was launched at schools, encouraging students to raise their own voices
- Our one-day field trips took clubs’ members and students who actively participated in the program to Pu Mat National Park to experience wildlife and nature in the Park to inspire and encourage them to take action.
- The difference in the cognitive level of school children of different ages, especially those in the remote areas should be kept in mind when developing content and materials for the activities. Multiple educational methods should be adopted to create more diverse approaches for students of different ages.
- Severe weather conditions in the local areas can interfere with the conduct of the activities, especially those that require in-person interaction. When these unfortunate events occur, it is best to be flexible and backup plans should be carefully prepared beforehand.
- The complicated and unpredictable outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam were the most significant factor that impacted the program. Taking activities to online platforms can be a solution, however, accessibility of students in remote areas should also be considered. Backup plans always should be carefully prepared beforehand.