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utreach Education

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This presentation outlines some of the educational outreach activities that Chester Zoo is involved in around the World.

Contents

The Importance of Outreach Education

Chester Zoo and East Africa

A Range of Projects

Summary

References

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“People fight for what they care about, and one aspect

of developing a caring attitude is knowledge”

(Brewer, 2006)

The Importance of Outreach Education

“Progress in conservation depends upon the

development of public understanding of the

relationships between species, the environment and people’s

own attitudes and actions”(WAZA, 2005)

“…in situ projects are doomed to failure in the

long term if the local people are not involved

and if the underlying causes of habitat loss and the threats to species are

not addressed”(WAZA, 2005)

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The World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (2005) state that education is critical for building support and increasing understanding within local communities for field conservation projects.

Zoos themselves not only have unique resources for education within their own countries about the plight of species around the World, but they also have unique expertise (e.g. research, husbandry, veterinary) and links to conservation in situ.

Zoos can therefore be powerful communicators: sharing the knowledge they possess with the people who live with species which are under threat.

It is therefore important that Zoos take active steps not only in the practical conservation work for threatened species, but also in providing education.

Perhaps the greatest impact is indeed through providing education in situ. This way people become empowered and gain greater knowledge and compassion for the uniqueness of the ecosystem around them.

It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live. The Dalai Lama

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Chester Zoo and East Africa

The education bus is also used to take community groups to visit neighbouring community projects to learn about how villages are employing new ideas to make a sustainable living. This can include different grazing techniques for domestic herds and eco-tourism enterprises.

Location: Kenya, Laikipia District Partners: Laikipia Wildlife Forum (www.laikipia.org)

The Environmental Education team use an education bus to transport school children into conservancies to see the native wildlife of the region.

The children have a taught session on adaptation and classification and then go on a game drive. The flagship species is Black Rhino, but children will see a wide variety of savannah species.

Seeing their native wildlife for the first time is an amazing experience for these children.

“This is a day I will never forget in my life because that was my first day to go for a trip. At home we were very happy to see all these animals clear as crystal.”

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The Education Officers also attend festivals with environmental displays and visit many classes within schools across Kenya.

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Chester Zoo helps the education programme in many ways, through supporting the running of the bus to mentoring, running and taking part in workshops, sharing teaching experience and providing materials.

The Zoo has also created opportunities for Education Officers from Kenya to visit the UK, learn more about delivering education programmes, and also share their knowledge within schools here. Click to continue

Location: Tanzania, Mkomazi National Park

Partners: The George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust (www.georgeadamson.org/mkomazi)

Chester Zoo helps run another education programme in Mkomazi National Park, Tanzania. ‘Rafiki Wa Faru’ (Swahili for ‘friend of rhino’) also has an education bus which brings local groups into the park.

The children have a taught session in the project’s Education Centre, which was custom built for this purpose, followed by a game drive.

The highlight is seeing a rhino or even better a mother and baby. The rhinos are breeding at Mkomazi and come to artificially created waterholes to drink.

Children and the Rhino Rangers can watch from the safety of an underground viewing bunker right up close to the waterhole. Chester Zoo funded this building project.

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Support for in situ education programmes such as these will make a difference in the work to conserve threatened species. It is through such support and the dedication of those involved that species currently threatened with extinction will have a chance to survive for future generations to cherish and marvel at.

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A Range of ProjectsChester Zoo supports education all over the world. The aim is also to expand these projects and develop others when possible to do so.

Projects we are currently involved in include:

Location: Borneo Partners: Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project

Our education colleagues came to Chester Zoo for training in our Education Division and with our continued support work hard to raise awareness of the plight of the Bornean Orangutan.

Location: China Partners: Chengdu Panda Research and Breeding Centre

Our education colleagues came to Chester Zoo for training in our Education Division. With our support they travel within Sichuan Province visiting schools to raise awareness of biodiversity and the impact of human activities on the environment.

Location: Mauritius Partners: Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (www.mauritian-wildife.org)

‘Learning with Nature’ is a schools’ education programme based on the beautiful coral island of Ile aux Aigrettes. The island is a Nature reserve less than 1km off the south-east coast of Mauritius. A nature trail has been developed and school children visit the island to become immersed in the natural environment that has been restored over 25 years of intense conservation work.

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"In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we

understand. We will understand only what we are taught."

Baba Dioum

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Summary

ReferencesBrewer, C. (2006). Translating Data into Meaning: Education in Conservation Biology. Conservation Biology, 20(3), 689-691.

WAZA (2005). The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy: Building a future for wildlife: World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Berne, Switzerland.

• Outreach education is incredibly important in developing a greater understanding and compassion about the environment for people who live with endangered wildlife.

• The development of education projects in situ is a key goal for zoos, in combination with practical conservation projects.

• Zoos are in a unique position, not only within their own countries, but also to share their experiences globally.

• Chester Zoo has a number of education projects around the World, and there are hopes to continue expanding the outreach programme.

• Chester Zoo has outreach programmes in places such as Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, China and Borneo and they continue to make a difference for conservation.