Case 4-5 Engaging teachers and children through environmental education: case of a campaign to release juvenile cymbium

Environmental education classes, juvenile cymbium release campaigns, teachers and children, Lompoul, Fas Boye, Djifer

Fishery resource management activities targeting local residents who mainly make a living from fishing require the cooperation of many stakeholders, including women’s groups that process the resources and commercial and distribution companies that sell the products, in addition to the participation of the fishermen’s groups that catch the resources. Among these stakeholders, children living in fishing villages are often overlooked. By encouraging children to participate in environmental education classes, they will develop an interest in the global environment and sustainable use of resources, which they will then bring back to their families, thereby promoting interest in resource management among the general population. Moreover, it is highly likely that the interest instilled in children will persist into adulthood and beyond. Based on this thinking, the JICA project COPAO offered environmental education classes to elementary and junior high schools in the vicinity of the pilot site, using the project’s campaign to release juvenile cymbidium clams as a topic of discussion. What was it like?

Environmental education classes on the subject of juvenile cymbidium release were offered to elementary and junior high schools in Lompoul and Fas Boye on Grande-Côte, and Djifer on Petite-Côte, where COPAO is conducting a campaign to release juvenile cymbidium.

With the cooperation of key CLPA members in each pilot site, the objectives of the activities were explained to the principals of the elementary and junior high schools and the schedule of the classes was arranged, and discussions were held with the class teachers and subject teachers in advance regarding the content of the environmental education classes using the release of cymbidium fry. The class teachers were in charge of facilitating the environmental education class.

In the first half of the lesson, it was discussed how the cymbidium stock has changed over the past 20 years, how the campaign to release juvenile cymbidium shellfish started, the activities led by the CLPA members in the village, and what each child could do to support these activities. Most of the children had never heard of the campaign to release juvenile cymbium before, and many of them were surprised to learn of the dramatic changes in the size and quantity of cymbium at the landing beaches, where they are used as a daily food source.

In the latter half of the class, the children worked together to create an animation featuring ‘Fighting Shinbo’, a character created by COPAO for the campaign to release young cymbium as an educational activity to solve the issue of cymbium resource conservation, The children enjoyed creating scenarios, drawing, and recording the animation together in a participatory workshop format.

In the past, the target audience for resource management activities by external donors was often limited to direct stakeholders who extract resources, such as fishermen. COPAO has been promoting activities not only to direct stakeholders, but also to children, who will become future stakeholders and have a significant impact on the character development of their children. COPAO conducted activities to promote and educate school teachers about resource management activities in the form of providing environmental education classes. It will take a few more years for the effects of these activities to become apparent.

Chapter 4 Strengthening the role and practical capacity of administration

4.3 Promoting the extension of co-management of fisheries resources

In addition to reaching out to central organisations that serve as contact points for activities in the target areas of resource management activities, conduct environmental education classes for teachers and students of local elementary and junior high schools on the main theme of the event, and use festivals organized by community women’s groups on International Women’s Day, which is an annual event, to raise awareness of resource management activities and increase the effectiveness of dissemination activities by utilizing local institutions and events. Use community-based institutions and events to reach out directly to residents and increase the effectiveness of dissemination activities, such as by conducting educational activities on resource management activities.

As one of the measures to encourage more people living in the target villages and surrounding areas to participate in resource management activities that promote sustainable use of local resources, this case of providing environmental education on resource management activities to schools, children who study there, and teachers who have a great influence on the development of their children’s character, will be helpful when considering extension measures in West African countries that do not have an extension agent system.