IZE JOURNAL

At IZE, we are dedicated to expanding the educational impact of zoos and aquariums worldwide. Our mission is to engage our members worldwide to achieve biodiversity conservation by encouraging sustainable behaviors in people who visit zoos and aquariums.
We provide resources to help our members improve their education programs; offer access to the latest thinking, techniques, and information in conservation education; and support excellence in animal care and welfare.
Conserve global biodiversity through effective zoo and aquarium programs.
The IZE Journal is published annually. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the IZE. The IZE Journal is circulated to IZE members. Past issues are made available via the association’s website: www.izea.net Print versions printed on FSC paper and with vegetable dyes.
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Join
on 9 November 2023!
On the second Thursday of November we showcase conservation education in zoos and aquariums, which is fundamental to mobilising the public to conservation action around the world.
IZE invites zoo and aquarium educators around the globe to take part in various fun activities to learn from each other and to share how you and your fellow zoo and aquarium educators are achieving biodiversity conservation.
INTERNATIONAL
PRESIDENT
DR JUDY MANN
TWO OCEANS AQUARIUM FOUNDATION
SOUTH AFRICA
PRESIDENT-ELECT
DR SARAH THOMAS
AUCKLAND ZOO
NEW ZEALAND
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
DEBRA ERICKSON
ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND BAHAMAS
SECRETARY/TREASURER
KIM HOORMANN
SAINT LOUIS ZOO USA
JOURNAL EDITOR
LIAN WILSON ZOOS VICTORIA AUSTRALIA
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
DR KANAKO TOMISAWA
OMUTA CITY ZOO JAPAN
IZE ADMINISTRATOR
NETTE PLETCHER
BEEZ KNEEZ CREATIVE USA
IZE MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR
DAVID JOHNSTON
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY USA
CONFERENCE CHAIR
AMY HUGHES
WELLINGTON ZOO
NEW ZEALAND
AFRICA
EPHANTUS MUGO
LEWA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY KENYA
SOUTH ASIA
STEFFI JOHN
THE MADRAS CROCODILE BANK TRUST INDIA
NORTH AMERICA
DAVID JOHNSTON
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY USA
EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST
MARIA ANTONIETA COSTA
LISBON ZOO
PORTUGAL
OCEANIA
RACHEL HAYDON
NATIONAL ZOO AND AQUARIUM OF NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND
NORTH & SE ASIA
CHIEN-CHU WU
TAIPEI ZOO
TAIWAN
LATIN AMERICA
VALERIE SYROWICZ
PARQUE ZOOLÓGICO NACIONAL LA AURORA GUATEMALA
What a pleasure it is to write my first President’s letter to you all. As I look back over the last few years, I am struck by two thoughts. The first one is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our conservation education community. For some of us the impact was devastating, whole education departments were axed, and many people lost their jobs. For others the impact was positive as we pivoted to online learning, streamlined, and focused our offerings. Either way, those of us still lucky enough to be employed doing what we love became more resilient, with a better understanding of our vulnerability and vocation.
The second thing is the fact that the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss can no longer be ignored – their impact is being felt throughout the world. And we as conservation educators are perfectly positioned to help society make the changes needed to address these challenges. What was considered in the past to be a ‘nice’ career, entertaining
and educating children about nature, is now increasingly seen as critical for the future of humanity.
There has never been a better time to be in conservation education for social change. The world needs us now –more than ever in the past. We have the unique skills, the wisdom, and the experience to connect people to nature and to inspire the changes in human behaviour needed to address these crises. Our strategy ‘Social Change for Conservation’ clearly articulates our role; now is the time to raise our profile and to take our rightful place alongside scientists as we passionately, and with real impact, work towards a future in which our children and grandchildren can thrive.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge your Board – without whose hard work we would not have an IZE. Everyone who serves on the IZE Board does so voluntarily, working evenings and weekends to bring you
our conferences, our Job Exchange Programme, our In-Country Training, our social media, our website, our resources and much more. We do this because we believe in the IZE and we believe in our amazing network of educators around the work – we want to support you to reach your professional goals.
The IZE Journal is close to my heart, as I was Journal Editor for two years. This means that I know just how much work is involved in producing a highquality journal of which we can all be proud. I would like to thank Lian Wilson and her team of editorial assistants most sincerely for the many hours of hard work that they put into the production of this Journal. I know that you will enjoy reading and celebrating the stories of our colleagues around the world as much as I will.
With warm regards, Judy.
As zoo and aquarium conservation educators we all have a role to play in harnessing the community to conserve biodiversity, which is fundamental to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Late 2022 saw the historic KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted at COP 15. In adopting the GBF, the framework notes that ‘ enhancing communication, education, and awareness on biodiversity and the uptake of the GBF by all actors is essential to achieve its effective implementation and behavioural change, and to promote sustainable lifestyles and biodiversity values ’ ( Convention on Biological Diversity, 2022 ). I am proud to be a part of the IZE, a committed and caring community working to create this change we are being called upon to do.
The Journal this year is filled with ways that IZE members are meeting this call and increasing knowledge and encouraging behaviour change to benefit wildlife and the environment. From the worldwide movement to ‘Reverse the Red’, to citizen science that helps to reduce the threats to wildlife, to promoting environmentally friendly consumer choices, supporting communities through environmental clubs, and improving program design to incorporate conservation action. The Journal is filled with inspirational stories and hope.
I feel very privileged to be the IZE Journal Editor and it was a joy to read your stories on how you are delivering conservation education to achieve biodiversity conservation and social
change. Thank you to the authors for sharing their programs and building the collective capacity of IZE. There is a team behind this journal and I am grateful for the support of Colette Edwards for designing the journal, Board members Kim Hoormann, Dave Johnston and Sarah Thomas for article selection and proof reading, and our amazing volunteers Molly Koleczek and Christina Dembiec for editing assistance.
Please get in touch at lwilson@zoo. org.au to share how your program supports the mission of IZE - to achieve biodiversity conservation by encouraging sustainable behaviours in people that visit zoos and aquariums.
BRINGING REVERSE THE RED DAY TO LIFE
CONNECTING PRIMARY 6 STUDENTS WITH ENDEMIC WILDLIFE IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CLUB PROJECTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS AROUND MOUNTAIN GORILLA HABITAT IN RWANDA
PUTTING GAME THEORY INTO GAME PRACTICE: SNARE TIG
ENVIRONMENTAL MULTIPLIERS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
“AJUDAR É O BICHO!”: CITIZEN SCIENCE AND THE BELO HORIZONTE ZOO FOR THE CONSERVATION OF BRAZILIAN BIODIVERSITY
LEARNING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS THROUGH ANIMAL ECOLOGY
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND WILDLIFE“THE RAINFOREST DETECTIVES AND GREEN CONSUMERS” PROGRAM IN TAIPEI ZOO
CREATING MISSION ALIGNED PROGRAMS: UTILISING THE BACKWARD DESIGN METHOD TO INTEGRATE CONSERVATION ACTION INTO SCHOOL PROGRAM LESSONS
MAKING WAVES AND CHANGING YOUTH PERCEPTIONS ABOUT FISH THROUGH AN EDUCATIONAL HUMAN-ANIMAL INTERACTION (HAI) PROGRAM WITH KOI: THE HAI-CEWHALL PROGRAM
EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WELFARE-FOCUSED ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS TO DELIVER EDUCATION PROGRAMS
SPREADING WILDLIFE CONSERVATION MESSAGE THROUGH EVANESCENT TRADITIONAL ART OF SOUTH INDIA
Megan Joyce¹, Tania Kahlon², and Dr Judy Mann-Lang³, 4
¹Reverse the Red, Global, ²World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Global,³President, International Zoo Educators Association and 4 Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, South Africa.
Reverse the Red is a partnership initiative catalysing action to reverse species extinction trends, coordinate tools and expertise, and amplify successful efforts to save species. Through strategic cooperation and action, Reverse the Red has united stakeholders behind key values and built national networks since launching in 2019. For Reverse the Red to truly become a movement, we set out to bring Reverse the Red Day to zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, museums, and online audiences for the first time on 7 February 2023. Launching this environmental holiday was one of the first steps towards our goal of growing Reverse the Red into a social movement for biodiversity conservation on par with the 30x30 and climate action movements.
Reverse the Red (RtR) is an international collaborative aiming to reverse the negative trend of biodiversity loss as measured by species’ statuses on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and Green Status of Species. As a partnership movement, RtR is co-chaired by the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and relies on an executive committee made up of members of ten organisations supported by two paid staff members. RtR’s mission to “unite tools and partnerships to catalyse conservation efforts and support countries in delivering Convention of Biological Diversity targets”, and vision of seeing RtR as “a global movement that ignites strategic action and optimism to ensure the survival of species and ecosystems” brings together many diverse stakeholders (Reverse the Red, 2021).
With the focus on supporting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets agreed upon in December 2022, RtR operates at the national level of conservation. According to Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair of the IUCN SSC, “Governments are major actors in moving the species conservation agenda forward. Most human and financial resources available to conservation are not for investment at the global level, but targeted at communities that range from local to national, administered by individual countries” (Rodríguez, 2021). RtR operationalises its efforts through four pillars and strives for optimism, with a collaborative spirit, to project possibility in conservation through strategic efforts.
Pillar one, Mobilising National Networks, focuses on building and strengthening national level networks who work collaboratively to accelerate conservation and coordinate to deliver on national biodiversity targets. Pillar two, Measuring Impact, emphasises measurement tools that show the effectiveness of conservation action
and assess progress towards targets. The two communications pillars, Empowering Communities and Amplifying Success, have several broad goals. Under the Empowering Communities pillar, building an audience and a social movement are key. Engaging audiences online and in-person to foster community, share information and best practices, convene events, and build capacity underpin the communication work. Like the development of the climate action movement, igniting momentum and messaging to enable diverse communities to feel hopeful and act for biodiversity protection underpin the global movement goal of RtR. Under Amplifying Success, case studies highlight examples of successful initiatives utilising RtR tools, tell stories of success, and grow support for and participation in RtR. The optimistic approach of RtR is also driven by participation in conferences and congresses, increasing accountability, and celebrating progress in reversing biodiversity declines.
Even with growing public interest in environmental campaigns, the increasing focus of attention has been climate change. “As noted, public awareness of the biodiversity crisis has risen slightly since the mid-1990s. However, this trend is now overshadowed by a greatly increased interest in global warming and climate change” (Novacek, 2008). The 30x30 movement to build support for protected areas is a second globally profiled campaign. There are thus two global movements with clear rallying cries and objectives, but there is no equivalent movement dedicated to biodiversity. RtR aims to be “a global movement that ignites strategic action and optimism to ensure the survival of species and ecosystems - the biodiversity equivalent of 30x30 and climate action” (Reverse the Red, 2021). Because of the emphasis on messaging and audience in this global movement and the need to ignite action, success depends on inspired people and effective communication. This led the communications pillars to plan a first annual RtR Day to introduce RtR to audiences around the world and capitalise on the concentrated engagement of a coordinated environmental day.
Finding an available date on the busy calendar of environmental days was not easy. The 7th February was chosen because February did not have an overall biodiversityfocused day. The last quarter of the year tends to be busy in the conservation field with conferences and congresses, making a date earlier in the year more practical for those planning and executing activities. Peppermint Narwhal, who produce a popular animal calendar and associated social media, were able to include RtR Day on their 2023 calendar, giving the first day a much-needed boost.
For RtR to truly be a movement, we had to first engage with a primary audiencethe partner organisations already engaged in conservation, communication, and education, similar to a business-to-business audience. For this group we produced attractive and easy to adapt pathways of participation, allowing this primary audience to connect with their respective audiences. The partners each have unique audiences that are interested in the work of their organisation because of staff, species, missions, projects, research, and location. Therefore, for such a broad spectrum of stakeholders to want to participate in a single campaign, the RtR team needed to provide a focus for diverse organisations. The potential reach through over
10,000 IUCN SSC member scientists, over 300 WAZA member institutions receiving about 700 million annual visitors (Gusset & Dick, 2011), and the network of other conservation organisations keyed into the biodiversity conservation space, was sizable.
Starting a social movement centred around positive conservation stories, optimism, and inspiring action to counter the doom and gloom often found in environmental news through buy-in from partner organisations was not easy. Building support for the movement began well before the planning of the first Reverse the Red Day, with RtR’s launch at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2021 and presence throughout the conservation field’s key convenings. Executive committee members collaborated with a network of partners for two years working across the four pillars, hosting webinars, presenting at conferences like the WAZA Annual Conference, and individually introducing the concepts and goals of RtR to their peers.
In the run up to RtR Day, a series of steps were taken to garner wide support and participation from key stakeholders and conservation actors. One way of doing this was to mobilise the zoo and aquarium community through WAZA’s network, to not only raise awareness about RtR, but also to encourage members to share their conservation successes with their own audiences using RtR messaging. Presentations specifically for communications and education staff at various conservation organisations were done to introduce the concept of RtR Day and allow key stakeholders to ask questions and think creatively about how to engage. The toolkit and content were presented to the weekly biodiversity communications flotilla hosted by the communications team at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). RtR also recorded an introductory episode of The Possibilists, a podcast produced by Pelecanus, that outlined the four pillars of the movement, related RtR to GBF targets, and invited participation on RtR Day.
To address the needs of both audiences, RtR planned a variety of communications products including podcasts, a launch video produced by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, and messaging tied to graphics. There was no theme planned for the first RtR Day, but rather participants were encouraged to introduce their audiences to RtR using pre-created content and then customise messaging to talk about what their organisation is doing to protect species. Guidelines such as RtR’s values and basic information about the background of the movement were included.
A public Trello board was selected to disseminate the toolkit because of ease of set up and the prevalence of the platform for dissemination of toolkits (CBD and CITES teams used Trello toolkits for COP15 and World Wildlife Day). Our toolkit included static graphic content that could be shared immediately and paired with suggested messaging, templates in Canva that could be translated or adapted with the logo of the organisation or specific talking points, and customisable messaging to share stories of conservation success. The aim of the toolkit was to provide a range of options for organisations and social media managers with variable amounts of time, knowledge of RtR, and agency within their organisations.
Several organisations planned and hosted special RtR Day events at their facilities. Some examples included:
The Johannesburg Zoo hosted an event encouraging staff to make a difference in reversing the red (Figure 1). The event consisted of a group pledge to be optimistic about conservation, with staff signing a pledge cloth, committing to sharing the campaign information with at least 10 other people, planning to wear their red t-shirts on Fridays, and planning to create and install posters about the conservation programmes and RtR around the zoo (Figure 2). Conservation efforts for wattled cranes (Bugeranus carunculatus), owls (Strigiformes), ground hornbills (Bucorvis spp), Pickersgill’s reed frog (Hyperolius pickersgilli), and rare succulent plants (Lithops spp) were displayed. The Johannesburg Zoo is also forming a partnership with the Endangered Wildlife Trust to share their combined in situ and ex situ conservation efforts.
Taipei Zoo evolved their traditional zodiac year special exhibition into a RtR exhibit and promoted ticketed sessions during the week.
Cologne Zoo’s Carnival Party happened on 7 February and zoo staff attended dressed in homemade costumes sporting “Reverse the Red”, each highlighting a different threatened species to show their commitment to the movement.
At least 12 news articles and blogs were generated by partners about participation in RtR Day. A joint IUCN SSC, WAZA, and RtR press release led to an article in Blooloop the week before, announcing the campaign and preparing audiences. Cologne Zoo, Librec Zoo, Zoo Ostrava, and Loro Parque secured several print, online, and radio news segments to promote their involvement. Nature Connect, Two Oceans Aquarium, and Botanic Gardens Conservation International added new blog entries to their sites to provide more content about their work.
RtR Day content had the potential to reach at least 9.1 million people online based on potential impressions calculated through follower size of participating accounts. The launch video alone has been viewed almost 30,000 times as of writing, and the two podcast episodes combined for over 300 listens. Figure 3 shows countries which had participating organisations online or in person. There were also at least four regional associations and twelve international bodies sharing content.
Evaluating the success of RtR Day and the larger social movement is complicated; data collection for reach and uptake requires partners to collect data and submit or share participation through many different channels. Preliminary results gathered so far are automatically generated metrics from social media, gathered through Sprout
Social’s social listening tools, which is raw quantitative data on potential audience reach, levels of exposure, and some basic levels of interaction to provide measures of outputs. It is noted that these metrics are not indicators of communications outcomes or impact but only tell if audiences accessed content (Macnamara, 2017). These data are not a true evaluation of the campaign but rather just a starting point. Lessons learned from the first RtR Day can and should inform future launches of environmental days, as well as the planning of a second RtR Day in 2024 and other RtR campaigns. The importance of relationship building and established networks that are supportive of the broader movement and can connect additional partners cannot be overstated. The reach of RtR’s executive committee and advisory board members was underutilised for this launch. However, the connections that were made were critical for success, including the International Zoo Educators Association. Organisations where the leadership could inform and direct staff and organisations where contact information for communications staff were the most active and engaged on social media. Preparing content well in advance, including plans for on-site events and example content from partners who were planning to customise their messaging, would have been beneficial to broader engagement.
WAZA’s Committee for RtR is working to develop a short guide for members to learn more and see where their conservation work fits within the movement, and this will lead to more participation in next year’s RtR Day celebrations.
Launching RtR Day required established networks and the building of new relationships, flexibility and innovation, a recognisable message and branding, general appeal, and the ability to customise messaging, and most importantly, good stories and successful conservation work to showcase. Bringing RtR Day to audiences around the world is not as straightforward as simply providing a toolkit of content to communications teams. It required dedicated introductions to secure support, coupled with clear direction and pre-made content that could be used as is or adapted for different audiences. Evaluation of such a campaign relied primarily on social media statistics for this first year, with the team aspiring for more in person events and further education and behaviour change campaigns in the future. Communication, knowledge sharing, and increased partnerships are at the foundation of RtR's aim to increase awareness about biodiversity and conservation success, and RtR Day is a key component of this communications strategy.
IZE members can take action to support Reverse the Red by visiting www.reversethered. org and selecting "Get Started" for more information and join the Reverse the Red community.
We wish to acknowledge Reverse the Red’s executive committee member organisations - Cologne Zoo, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, IUCN SSC, On the Edge, Re:Wild, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, WAZA, and Zoos Victoria - for their contributions to the RtR movement and all four of its pillars. Storytelling of this nature requires successful conservation action to communicate about, and the individuals who dedicate their time and expertise to the executive committee, advisory board, and working groups of RtR are essential to the movement. We would also like to thank
everyone who engaged with our first Reverse the Red Day online and in person at their organisations and institutions.
Corresponding author email address: Megan Joyce, communications@reversethered. org
Gusset, M., and Dick, G. (2011). The global reach of zoos and aquariums in visitor numbers and conservation expenditures. Zoo Biology, 30(5), 566–569.
Macnamara, J. (2017). Evaluating Public Communication: Exploring New Models, Standards and Best Practice (1st ed.). Routledge.
Novacek, M. J. (2008). Engaging the public in biodiversity issues. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(supplement_1), 11571–11578.
Reverse the Red. (2021). Reverse the Red. Available at: https://www.reversethered.org [Accessed 26 June 2023].
Rodríguez, J. P. (2021). Reverse the Red: Achieving global biodiversity targets at national level. Oryx, 55(1), 1–2.
Laurie G. Cummins 1 , Honoré Kambale Masumbuko 1 , Josias Kambale Kamaliro 1 , Gracianne K. Basyanirya 1 , Guy Simisi Mumbere 1 , Jackson Kasereka Kahindura 1 , Franklin Mikundi Kinahwa 1 , Jackson Kabuyaya Mbeke 1 , Nadine M. Kocanjer 2 , Tammie Bettinger 2 , Erika Novak 3 , Austin Leeds 2 , and Katie Fawcett 1
1 Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2 Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and 3 Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, United States of America.
What do Grauer’s gorillas, bonobos and okapis have in common? They are only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). Over a series of four classroom visits, educators from the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center taught Primary 6 (grade six) students about protecting endemic species and primary forests in DR Congo. As the fastest growing demographic in DR Congo, youth are an important audience for GRACE’s conservation education initiatives. The Primary 6 curriculum was created in partnership with Zoo Education Advisors with specific goals of fostering pride, increasing knowledge, and inspiring students in their last year of primary school to take conservation action. Evaluation data collected from over 530 students at 12 schools in eastern DR Congo suggest a significant increase in cumulative knowledge in participating students.
Located in a remote region of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center is the world’s only sanctuary for orphaned Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri). The 14 gorillas at GRACE – all orphaned from the illegal wildlife trade – form a tight-knit surrogate family. Traditional chiefs and local families donated the land on which GRACE was built, which is adjacent to a community managed forest reserve, called Tayna Nature Reserve (Tayna).
GRACE was founded on the principle that for gorillas to be protected, we must work together with the local communities that share their habitat. As the only non-government organisation (NGO) working in this region, GRACE seeks to build pride, increase awareness, and address conservation threats to forests and gorillas near Tayna. Our goal is to co-create a living landscape where people and wildlife thrive and peacefully coexist.
GRACE has identified five target audiences for conservation education outreach. Among these are children and youth in DR Congo. Youth are the fastest growing and largest demographic in Africa, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30 (UN, 2023) and 46% of DR Congo's population under the age of 14 (CIA, 2023). Empowering and inspiring the world’s future leaders, policy makers, and environmental
stewards through conservation education programming is a top priority for GRACE. Furthermore, national data indicates that 67% of children will complete Primary 6 (grade six, around 12 years of age) in DR Congo (USAID, 2020). Primary 6 marks the last year of free education in DR Congo, meaning many students are not able to advance to higher grades after completing this final year of primary schooling. Therefore, GRACE strategically selected Primary 6 students near the sanctuary as key recipients for conservation education programming.
The Primary 6 program was created in partnership with Zoo Education Advisors to connect students in a classroom setting with endangered and endemic wildlife in DR Congo including Grauer’s gorillas, bonobos (Pan paniscus), and okapis (Okapia johnstoni). The program’s goals are to foster pride, increase knowledge, and inspire students in their last year of primary school to take conservation action. GRACE Educators are trained in interpretive methods, and lessons are delivered in an engaging way centred around interactive, student-driven learning. Materials are highly visual and include hands-on components. Class sizes can be very large, and classrooms are not well-equipped, so GRACE Educators provide all materials and supplies. The educators are skilled at adapting the lessons to fit the students’ needs at different learning levels.
In 2022, GRACE Educators delivered the Primary 6 program for students in three villages: Katoyo, Kasugho, and Kagheri. These communities are located within 15 km of the GRACE sanctuary and are home to more than 38,000 people. As GRACE’s neighbours, these communities comprise an important audience for conservation education.
GRACE Educators selected twelve schools to receive Primary 6 programming: one school in Katoyo (Muyisa), nine schools in Kasugho (Vumbongo, Miseke, Kasugho, Sayuni, Ipanga, Kasuka, Viseia, and Masuho), and three schools in Kagheri (Kagheri, Luhunga, and Kyavitondo).This was the first year that Educators delivered the Primary 6 program in Kagheri. In total, GRACE Educators engaged with more than 530 Primary 6 students in 2022.
To deliver the Primary 6 program, GRACE Educators divided into pairs and visited each classroom four times. On the first visit, they collected a written pre -evaluation from each student (Figure 1). The pre-evaluation consists of six multiple choice questions. Before administering the evaluation, the Educators explained each question and translated it into additional local languages as needed for student comprehension. Students completed the pre-evaluation voluntarily and independently.
Primary 6 lessons begin with “Gorillas are Special”, which focuses on what makes gorillas unique, including physical and behavioural adaptations that help gorillas survive in the forest. This lesson encourages students to make meaningful comparisons between gorillas and humans to develop a deeper understanding and connection to gorillas (Figure 2). Next, GRACE Educators taught students about the classification of primates, including similarities and differences between monkeys and apes. In the third lesson, to foster empathy and build pride, students learnt about the endemic wildlife of DR Congo, including species such as bonobos, okapi, and Grauer’s gorillas.
Lessons conclude with an interactive discussion on how human actions impact the forest. Using a large banner, students identified human actions that pose challenges for wildlife, such as poaching, cutting trees, and littering. Students discussed these challenges and were then given cards with examples of positive alternative actions to address each threat (Figure 3). Such examples include raising livestock for protein, creating a woodlot, properly disposing of litter, and building a fuel-efficient stove. Students discussed the positive action cards and used them to “reverse” the negative actions on the banner. When completed, the new scene shows people and wildlife coexisting near the forest
On the final visit, students received an activity book containing colouring pages
and information about more than 20 animals in DR Congo. This book serves as a reminder of the biodiversity which communities near GRACE are working to protect. Before leaving class, students coloured their favourite animal with GRACE Educators and completed a pledge page, promising to take action to protect forests for gorillas and other wildlife. Students also completed the post-evaluation on their last visit with GRACE Educators.
To assess the impact of the Primary 6 program on students’ conservation knowledge, we were interested in answering three specific questions:
1. Does student knowledge change as a result of the Primary 6 program?
2. Is there a relationship between age/gender in knowledge change?
3. Is there a relationship between which school the students attend and knowledge change?
To answer these questions, we conducted pre- and post-program surveys with over 530 students at twelve schools (pre-evaluation n=535, post-evaluation n=532). We assessed knowledge by creating a cumulative knowledge score, which was the sum of the number of questions each student answered correctly, ranging from 0 (no correct answers) to 6 (every question answered correctly). We then used a generalised linear mixed model to analyse patterns in knowledge change related to program (pre vs. post), age, and gender.
We utilised school as a random variable, recognising variation would likely exist, but not wanting to explicitly test this. We did, however, explore by school variation descriptively.
We observed a significant increase in cumulative knowledge (χ2 = 291.141, df = 1, P < 0.001) in Primary 6 students following their lessons with GRACE Educators, with students answering on average two more correct answers post-program. Post scores (µ = 4.82, SE = 0.75) were significantly greater than pre scores (µ = 2.77, SE = 0.44) (Figure 4). Neither age (χ2 = 0.005, df = 1, P = 0.942) nor gender (χ2 = 0.190, df = 1, P = 0.909) were significant predictors of knowledge gain.
We observed an effect of school in relation to change in knowledge. While all schools increased knowledge on average, two schools in Kagheri (Kagheri and Luhunga) showed the largest growth (Figure 5). This is the first time that GRACE Educators have delivered Primary 6 lessons to these schools.
Evaluation data from the Primary 6 program demonstrated a general positive trend from pre- to post-evaluation, with a statistically significant increase in cumulative knowledge overall. These results show that the Primary 6 program is effective at increasing students’ knowledge of endemic species in DR Congo and corresponding conservation threats and actions. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in knowledge change based on age or gender. In a region that struggles with gender equality and in large classes with 2-3 years age difference between students, these were important variables to consider in our analysis. We are pleased to see that, regardless of age or gender, students are benefitting from the Primary 6 program.
Although further analysis is needed, the evaluation results provide insight into knowledge by school. This is the first time we have delivered programs and collected data in Kagheri. Consequently, starting knowledge here was lowest (based on preprogram surveys) and increased considerably in the post-evaluation as demonstrated by Kagheri and Luhunga Primary Schools. In contrast, Muyisa Primary School (Figure 6) is located closest to GRACE and may have more exposure to GRACE’s conservation content and messaging (many staff members’ children attend Muyisa). Students at Muyisa Primary showed the highest starting knowledge, but still demonstrated an increase in knowledge after programming was delivered. This reinforces the need for conservation education programming to continue, even in the communities closest to the sanctuary. It also shows the benefit of delivering content as part of a larger, longterm conservation education outreach program. Results from all schools show that a one-time delivery of programs may not be enough to effect changes in conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours over time.
After reviewing the results, we also recognised some flaws in our survey design. Although the intention was to measure for changes in conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours, results show that the questions we asked did not properly measure for attitudes or behaviours/intent to behave. With this new information, GRACE will revise the Primary 6 evaluation before delivering the program again in 2023. This learning reinforces the importance of regularly conducting evaluations and using the results to improve our programs.
Overall, the results from GRACE’s Primary 6 program reiterate the importance of evaluation. Program evaluation is beneficial to the learner, educator, and the organisation because it provides valuable insight into student learning, educator delivery, and program effectiveness. Through evaluation, GRACE will continue to measure impact of programming, track changes in impact over time, and compare program impact across schools and villages. GRACE will also use the results to improve our evaluation questions and modify our programs for the future. Furthermore, GRACE will continue its delivery of the Primary 6 program and other student-based programs. Connecting youth with nature and teaching them about the amazing biodiversity of DR Congo is effective at increasing knowledge for a key demographic. Through the Primary 6 program, GRACE is helping to inform and inspire future conservationists in DR Congo.
Thanks to the GRACE Education Team, GRACE Education Advisors, and the communities of Katoyo, Kasugho and Kagheri for making this program possible. Special thanks to Beth Armstrong, Rebecca Rose, Tom Mattix, Dr Jan Ramer, and Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for the original design and creation of the “Animals of Congo” colouring book distributed at the end of the Primary 6 visits.
Corresponding author email address: Laurie Cummins, lcummins@gracegorillas. org
CIA. (2023). World Factbook: Democratic Republic of the Congo. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/congo-democratic-republic-ofthe/ [Accessed 28 February 2023].
United Nations. (2023). Young People’s Potential, the Key to Africa’s Sustainable Development. Available at : https://www.un.org/ohrlls/news/young-people%E2%80%99s-potential-key-africa%E2%80%99ssustainable-development [Accessed 28 February 2023].
USAID (2020). Democratic Republic of the Congo Education. Available at: https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/ democratic-republic-congo/education [Accessed 25 June 2023].
Maurice Ngiramahoro, Sarah Tolbert, Hilary Hilsabeck, Ildephonse Munyarugero, Elias Nizeyimana, Félix Ndagijimana, and Tara Stoinski
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Rwanda.
To promote environmental stewardship, the Government of Rwanda established environmental clubs in local schools. Part of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s integrated approach to protect and conserve mountain gorillas and their habitat is to help communities adjacent to gorilla habitats, by designing and implementing conservation education initiatives that equip the next generation of Rwandans with knowledge, resources, and skills to peacefully co-exist with these great apes. Since 2017, the Fossey Fund has supported and mentored nature clubs in primary schools around Volcanoes National Park, where the endangered mountain gorillas live. The goal of these clubs is to design and implement projects that benefit the schools, the environment, and local communities, while ensuring they are spreading environmental education awareness to their classmates, families and communities for a sustainable future. Each school club (25 in total) is led by two teachers and includes 60 students. Each year, the Fossey Fund Conservation Education team trains club teachers in critical conservation topics and practical skills, and finances conservation projects developed by club students that benefit their communities and nature. This is a review of the successes and challenges associated with these conservation projects. For example, while animal husbandry projects only succeeded in a few cases, the tree nurseries have been successful and impactful. Between 2017-2022, nature club students distributed and planted >50,000 trees in their communities aiming to provide additional food sources, mitigate the risk of soil erosion, and reduce dependency on forest resources, such as firewood. Overall, nature clubs in schools around Volcanoes National Park can empower students to directly contribute to gorilla conservation, increase awareness, and improve the livelihood of local communities.
The Rwandan government and Rwanda Environmental Management Authority have established clubs for environmental protection in schools to promote environmental stewardship (REMA, 2010). One of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s gorilla conservation strategies is helping communities located in the north-western part of Rwanda through educational outreach and livelihood support. This program equips people with the skills, tools, resources, and knowledge to coexist with the mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and other biodiversity in Volcanoes National Park (VNP). In 2017, the Fossey Fund began supporting nature clubs in primary schools near VNP. Today, we train over 100 teachers in 25 schools to lead the clubs and support students in designing, implementing, and financing projects that benefit the schools, communities, and environment. These clubs
implemented various projects (n=66) such as agroforestry tree nurseries, fruit tree nurseries, animal husbandry projects, the establishment of school garbage bins, and school vegetable gardens (Table 1).
One of the most impactful projects of the nature clubs has been the planting and distribution of fruit trees. More than 50,000 tree seedlings have been distributed by club members to the larger community living near the gorilla habitat. Animal husbandry projects at schools were challenging, resulting in a low overall success mainly due to high expenses of animal care, and insufficient grazing area around schools. Therefore, tree nurseries have increasingly been identified and implemented as productive conservation projects to support schools and communities (Figure 1).
A random sampling survey in 2021 involved community members of 61 households with varying demographics who benefited from avocado trees distributed by the nature club of Kampanga school in 2017 (Table 2). Kampanga school is one of the 25 primary schools the Fossey Fund supports with its conservation education. A total of 61 households received between one and seven avocado trees (135 trees total) propagated and distributed through the nature club of Kampanga school (Figure 2). The random sampling survey involved one adult from each of the 61 households that received avocado trees and targeted benefits, challenges, and environmental outreach outcomes.
Survey outcome: Socio-economic benefits from avocado tree nursery
• Of the 135 trees distributed, 72.6% have matured and provided benefits, with 96% of surviving trees producing fruits one to four times per year, mostly starting two to three years after the distribution.
• An estimated total of 6,209 kilograms (kg’s) of avocados were harvested; they directly benefited 355 family members and 202 neighbours through donations.
• Twenty-two households with fruiting trees generated an average income of
22,300 RWF (US$21.50), ranging from 2,300-150,000 RWF (US$2.20$144.70).
• Income was used to pay for school materials (68.2%), hygiene materials (59%), food (56.5%), school fees (18.2%), clothing (13.6%), water/electricity bills (13.6%), contribution to cooperatives (13.6%), vegetable seedlings (4.5%), and health insurance (4.5%).
• Other benefits reported by survey participants include fresh air (88.5%), shade (85.2%), prevention of soil erosion (67.2%), food for animals (4.9%), compost (3.3%), aesthetics (3.3%), and medicine through leaves to treat intestinal parasites (1.6%).
Of the children who were involved in the nature club, 74.5% (n=46) communicated conservation information to family members through homework (67.4%), storytelling (56.5%), course revision (26.1%), or practice (2.2%).
Overall, 75.4% of respondents believe that avocado tree distribution can contribute to improved protection of gorillas and their habitat as an alternative source to what they could go and harvest in the forest.
The survey findings demonstrate that students of nature clubs in primary schools around the VNP can play a significant and effective role in conservation.
The avocado trees distributed, not only created an additional source of food and income for targeted community households of varying sizes and educational backgrounds, but also for neighbouring households. The income generated by the avocado trees and allocated to school materials and fees can increase access to education, while the purchase of hygiene materials, health insurance, and water has the potential to increase community health. Apart from benefits through food and income, households also reported that planted trees positively affected their well-being and reduced soil erosion.
Most children communicated conservation knowledge gained in nature clubs to other household members. This type of information transfer can increase conservation knowledge and positive attitudes towards conservation in parents (Damerell et al., 2013) as shown by other Fossey Fund conservation education programs in primary schools around VNP (unpublished data by Kabayiza 2019, BSc research).
We thank Rwanda Development Board and VNP’s management for their collaboration. We also thank the schools for supporting nature club activities to help make gorillas safer and improve the community’s livelihood.
Corresponding author email address: Maurice Ngiramahoro, mngiramahoro@ gorillafund.org
Damerell P., Howe C., and Milner-Gulland, E. (2013). Child-orientated environmental education influences adult knowledge and household behaviour. Environmental Research Letters, 8(1), 015016.
Kabayiza. (2019). Unpublished BSc research.
REMA - Rwanda Environmental Management Authority. (2010). Guidelines for Infusing Education for Sustainable Development into Schools in Rwanda. Available at: https://www.rema.gov.rw/rema_doc/ publications/Guidelines%20for%20infusing%20ESD%20into%20schools.pdf [Accessed 29 June 2023].
Blair Cockburn
Royal Zoological Society of Scotland - Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland.
This short article showcases how Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo are adapting classic children’s games to teach about the global conservation work that the RZSS supports. Using simple, well-known playground games to teach about more complex biological concepts ensures that learners need not focus on the complexity of a new game’s rules, but in turn, can focus on the complexity of the discussed issues. RZSS has been adapting the universal game of “Tig” or “Tag” to teach about the dangers of deforestation and hunting in the Budongo Forest of Africa. This article will demonstrate how, in the game of 'Snare Tig‘, children assume roles of either chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), hunters, or conservationists in order to model the impact of set scenarios on a wild chimpanzee population. All this within a fun 45-minute lesson that can be delivered for up to 33 children at a time. Learning through play, this activity is designed to connect the participants with nature, as well as teach about global threats to biodiversity and the necessity of international conservation efforts.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) have been adapting classic children’s games to support conservation storytelling at Edinburgh Zoo through active learning. As the merits of play-based learning (Bottrill, 2018) have come to the fore in Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2007), so RZSS have adapted the children’s game of ‘Tig‘ to let children create a population model responding to various conservation scenarios (Figure 1). ‘Tig’ was chosen as it is well known, thus minimising time required to teach participants game rules.
Since 2017, ‘Snare Tig’ has been used with learners aged 5-14 to introduce children to the Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) in Uganda (BCFS, 2022). Our wildlife conservation charity has supported BCFS since 2005 (RZSS, 2022), where wild chimpanzees are vulnerable to deforestation and snarehunting. This game-based lesson of 45 minutes, using a simple set of resources (Figure 2), is suitable for groups of 10-40 learners.
Round one begins with an introduction to Uganda’s chimpanzees using a skull and snare demonstration to facilitate group discussion (Figure 3). Most participants assume the role of chimpanzees, who are chased by a smaller number as hunters. When a chimpanzee is ‘tigged’ (tapped) by a hunter, this represents the chimpanzee being caught in a snare. Snare-hunting however is not always fatal; with data suggesting 26% of a troop local to BCFS are living with snare injuries (Fedurek et al, 2022). To represent this, those caught lose a limb each time (Figure 4). ‘Chimpanzees’ are confined within the defined playing area, as ‘the forest’ is surrounded by human agriculture where farmers may attack to prevent chimpanzees raiding crops. ‘Chimpanzees’ who leave ‘the forest’ go straight to ‘the graveyard’ (Figure 5). The game is paused after 5 minutes to discuss the effect of hunting on the chimpanzee population.
In round two, with new participants chosen as the hunters, a line is added down the middle of ‘the forest’ to represent deforestation and allow the group to discover how compounded threats further impact the population. Typically, fewer ‘chimpanzees’ survive; often producing an extinction event leading into our conservation storytelling.
Round three adds conservation to the model by removing snares. A third character is introduced: the conservationist. When the conservationist ‘tigs‘ a hunter, the hunter must leave the forest for the remainder of the round. This change typically sees increased chimpanzee survival rates.
Round four introduces BCFS’s ‘alternative livelihood scheme’ (Lwebuga, 2016) with former snare hunters incentivised to help conservation efforts. Consequently, hunters, when caught, are not removed but converted into additional conservationists. We now typically see the highest survival rates. Hunters
caught by the
become additional conservationists
hats).
Group discussions after each game round are key to this learning activity to allow participants to evaluate the impact of changing conservation scenarios. This game increases engagement in our storytelling through active learning and allows participants to create their own population model and conservation scenarios. The use of storytelling may make the scenarios seem a little more real, but within the context of hope for improvement that is already happening in the wild. By the end of the game, the learners have become a passionate group of problem solvers, looking to make further changes to better increase the survival rates of the ‘chimpanzees’ in their population. There have even been reports of groups playing ‘Snare Tig’ after RZSS staff have left, continuing to create and test their own conservation scenarios and solutions!
This gamified session exemplifies one of RZSS’s longest-standing conservation partnerships and has featured in zoo holiday programmes, school outreach, outdoor learning festivals, and international conservation education conferences (Lilley & Cockburn, 2019). Given the exceptionally positive feedback and participant’s clear understanding of key concepts, ‘Snare Tig’ demonstrates how adapting well-loved games can enhance educational delivery.
Thanks go to Amy Cox, Joanna Dove, Jessica Lilley and Jonathan Prior of the Discovery and Learning team at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo who have all contributed to the development of this session with each time it has been played. Also, to RZSS’s ‘Conservation Action Team’ who donated surplus hats towards this project.
Corresponding author email address: Blair Cockburn, bcockburn@rzss.org.uk
BCFS. (2022). Budongo Conservation Field Station: About Budongo. Available at: http://www.budongo. org/about/ [Accessed 5 December 2022].
Bottrill, G. (2018). Can I go and play now? Rethinking the early years. London: Sage Publications. Fedurek, P., Akankwasa, J.W., Danel, D.P., Fensome, S., Zuberbühler, K., Muhanguzi, G., Crockford, C., and Asiimwe, C. (2022). The effects of warning signs on the presence of snare traps in a Ugandan Forest. Biotropica, 54(3), 721-728.
Lilley, J.L, and Cockburn, B. (2019). “Let’s Play! Gamification of Conservation“. EAZA Education Conference 28 March 2019, Skansen.
Lwebuga, J.N. (2016). Budongo Conservation Field Station: Reducing the Threat of Snares on the Budongo Forest. Available at: http://www.budongo.org/news/reducing-the-threat-of-snares-in-the-budongo-forest [Accessed 5 December 2022].
RZSS. (2022). Royal Zoological Society of Scotland: Budongo Conservation Field Station. Available at: https://www.rzss.org.uk/conservation/our-projects/project-search/wild-places/budongo/ [Accessed 1 December 2022].
Scottish Executive. (2007). A curriculum for excellence, building the curriculum (2): Active learning in the early years. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.
Fundación Temaikèn, Argentina.
We are facing global biodiversity loss that puts human health and ecosystems at risk. In response, Fundación Temaikèn Argentina, proposed the Environmental Multipliers Educational Program (Programa Educativo Multiplicadores Ambientales – PEMA – in Spanish) as a strategy to work alongside local educational institutions on the threats addressed in the Delta del Paraná Conservation Program (Buenos Aires) and in the Forest and Grasslands Conservation Program (Misiones Province in northeast Argentina). The program works hand in hand with these institutions and strengthens the work of teachers, through training, support meetings and socialisation opportunities. PEMA invites teachers to develop and implement environmental projects that contribute to developing students who are committed to the protection of the environment and that engage the local community. During 2022, the program involved eight educational institutions in the Paraná Delta Program and fourteen in the Forest and Grasslands Conservation Program. An evaluation tool was developed to record the experience of both the participating teachers and Fundación Temaikèn representatives to assess the program implementation and to integrate perspectives from all the different actors involved. Results showed the need to adjust the program to more effectively incorporate cultural characteristics of each region, but also showed the positive influence of PEMA in participating communities through the implementation of actions that help identify and minimise environmental threats. Finally, the experience of PEMA 2022 reaffirmed the need to collaborate with the community as a key strategy to reach conservation program objectives.
Fundación Temaikèn, Argentina, was created with the commitment to conserve nature and play a fundamental role in building diverse and sustainable futures for people and the environment. Its mission is "to protect nature together", working for the health of species and ecosystems so that all living beings can coexist harmoniously on the planet.
To achieve this mission, Fundación Temaikèn carries out conservation programs for species and ecosystems, among which are the Delta del Paraná Conservation Program and the Forest and Grassland Conservation Program.
The Delta del Paraná Conservation Program proposes the recovery of one of the most important wetlands in Argentina, which is home to at least 36 species facing some degree of threat. This wetland also provides environmental services such as climate regulation, protection from floods and droughts, and filtration of the water that almost half of the Argentine population consumes daily (Kandus et al., 2010). The main factors that threaten this environment are the modification of the habitat, the pressure exerted on wildlife, the lack of Protected Natural Areas, and
The Forest and Grasslands Conservation Program is carried out in the province of Misiones, and its objective is to conserve the biodiversity of the southwest corridor by supporting and guiding the local communities in the sustainable use of resources. This region is an ecotone between the ecoregions, Campos and Malezales, and the Paraná jungle, which makes it highly biodiverse, harbouring high conservation values such as plant endemism (Fontana, 1996, 1998, 2006; Gil, 2022). Its main threats are fires, habitat destruction and fragmentation, wildlife poaching, and domestic animals entering protected areas.
A fundamental component in the development of conservation projects is the involvement of the community through different actions of environmental education and socio-community integration, understanding that the conservation of an ecosystem is not possible without the genuine participation of its inhabitants (Thomas, 2020; Wetlands International-LAC Fundación Humedales, 2016).
In this context, Fundación Temaikèn implemented the Environmental Multipliers Educational Program (PEMA in Spanish) as one of the strategies for working together with educational institutions for the conservation of the “Delta del Paraná” and “Forest and Grasslands” ecosystems. PEMA is an education and training program that seeks to share knowledge about the values and threats to the region's biodiversity as well as to promote responsible citizenship through tangible conservation action. The program aims to spread the call to action and the motivation to carry out and multiply collective actions for the benefit of the environment among the program’s influence groups.
The program runs across a year and has five components:
1. Teacher training in the design and implementation of environmental projects (Figure 1).
2. Monitoring of the projects.
3. In school talks for students (Figure 2).
4. Educational outings to Temaikèn Biopark (Figure 3) and Osununú Nature Reserve (Figure 4).
5. Socialisation space that allows students and teachers to present their projects to the community (Figure 5).
One of the main challenges of PEMA 2022 was its implementation in two locations which had quite different characteristics and identities. Adjustments were made to the structure of the program, adapting it to the different contexts and to the problems identified within the framework of each conservation program. The background of PEMA in each region was also considered, understanding that in Misiones the program had been implemented for 10 years while in the Delta it began in 2022. Consequently, the implementation in each territory was conducted differently (Table 1).
Within the framework of the Delta Program, education institutions, which covered the three education levels, from the town of Belén de Escobar, linked to the basin of the Luján and Paraná de las Palmas rivers and/or close to the Ciervo de los Pantanos National Park, were invited. A total of seven institutions participated.
Within the framework of the Forest and Grasslands Program, education institutions, which covered the three education levels and special education, from the town of San Ignacio and the neighbouring town (Gobernador Roca) were invited. These are located in both urban and rural areas as well as within the Mbya Guaraní indigenous communities. A total of thirteen institutions participated.
Specific evaluation methods were designed to assess the results of the program and the contribution of the projects to the relevant conservation program. This model, in turn, required the adaptation of the evaluation tools to each of the territories in which it was implemented and to the formats adopted by PEMA in each locality.
The model had two types of evaluation:
1. Project evaluation - for the project developed by the teachers/schools, two complementary evaluation tools were designed, one for the participating teachers and the other for Fundación Temaikèn staff. The development of the projects, their results, the participation of the students and the community, the relationship of the project with the objectives of the conservation program and its contribution to achieve the goals of PEMA were recorded.
2. Program evaluation - for the Environmental Multipliers Educational Program as a whole, the evaluation tool, for the participating teachers, aimed to understand how the development of the program turned out and what the contributions of the program components were to the development of the projects of teachers/schools.
The elements considered in the evaluation of the project were:
- If they managed to carry out all the stages of the project.
- If they used the planning tool proposed by Fundación Temaikèn.
- If the project continued a previous project and/or will continue the following year.
- Whether there was student and community participation.
- If they planned the project based on a local environmental threat.
- If they consider that the project contributes to reversing these threats.
- If they observed changes in attitudes after the development of the project.
- If the project contributed to strengthening knowledge and skills.
The elements considered in the evaluation of the program were:
- If each PEMA component contributed to the project being carried out.
- If the program promoted the exchange between students and teachers of the different participating institutions.
- If the assistance of Fundación Temaikèn contributed so that the project could be fulfilled.
- If PEMA promoted the exchange between different educational institutions.
- If it contributed to creating a community identity of caring for the environment.
The implementation of this evaluation model allowed for results on the implementation of the Environmental Multipliers Educational Program as well as the contribution of the projects developed in accordance with the objectives of the conservation programs.
Regarding the implementation of the PEMA, intra-institutional complexities, typical of educational institutions, were evidenced. That is, when implementing the program, factors such as management times and classroom processes, the bureaucracy of the educational system, infrastructure and resource needs, the rotation of teaching positions, the compartmentalisation of curricular areas and school-community interaction played a part.
Likewise, the evaluation showed a need for training in specific theoretical content (i.e., native flora and fauna, threatened species, local environmental problems, wetlands), support for the development and implementation of the projects, and the facilitation of teaching resources.
Regarding the contribution of the projects to the objectives of the conservation programs, 93.8% of the teachers who responded to the evaluation considered that the purpose of the project was to reduce one or more threats identified within each conservation program. Figure 6 depicts the top five threats selected to be addressed within the framework of each project.
Moreover, it was evidenced that working on the specific threats of the territories, and not on environmental problems in general, gave results that were more aligned with the conservation objectives. For example, a teacher who, out of personal concern used to provide veterinary care to feral dogs present around the school, noted after
participating in PEMA the threat feral dogs represent to ecosystems, and the risk they pose to the health of native fauna and people. In this way, she was able to generate more effective actions to counteract this problem, articulating population control actions of feral dogs with the Municipality.
In addition, after the development of the projects, changes in interests and attitudes were observed in students, teachers, and families. For example, a student who used to go hunting with dogs, noted after his participation in the project that they rediscovered the value of native fauna for ecosystems and began to generate another type of interaction with wildlife, even expressing interest in becoming a Park Ranger after finishing high school.
Likewise, some testimonials provided by teachers exemplify these changes:
“We have made complaints about the quality of water in areas where projects are being developed next to our school (...)”
“We made arrangements so that the garbage collector can enter the school since there was no collection, the waste was burned at the school. Garbage burnings are no longer done.”
“Students, families and fellow teachers now speak or think about native plants when planting or buying.”
Considering that each region has different sociocultural characteristics, we were able to reaffirm the idea that in order to promote biodiversity conservation it is very important to adjust each program to each particular context (Thomas, 2020; Wetlands International-LAC Fundación Humedales, 2016).
Consequently, it is imperative to involve the community in the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational strategies with the aim of motivating them to be role models or "environmental multipliers" that promote the conservation of biodiversity in their own natural environments. In other words, involving people through a participatory process of sharing knowledge, traditions, and sociocultural practices with the purpose of carrying out a collective construction of the environmental situation and devising possible solutions considering that the local community is the one that inhabits that region.
It was observed that working on the projects on the conservation values of each territory and its specific threats gave results that were more aligned with the conservation objectives. Likewise, participation in the Environmental Multipliers Educational Program promoted changes in interests and attitudes in students and teachers, which later have begun to encourage the local community to incorporate more environmentally friendly practices with these ecosystems.
An important aspect to consider is the complexities of the educational system, since not contemplating its dynamics, structures, relationships, and tensions hinders the achievement of the objectives of the educational program and, consequently, of conservation programs.
Lastly, another factor to consider is the continuity of the programs and the maintenance of relationships over time, consolidating joint work between the
community and the zoological institution to contribute to conservation that will last over time and transcend the institutions. In conclusion, the experience of the 2022 Environmental Multipliers Educational Program allowed us to reaffirm the need to work in a collaborative manner with the community as a key strategy that contributes to achieving the objectives of conservation programs, as well as strengthen several ways of relating harmoniously with the environment.
Fundación Temaikèn would like to thank the participating educational institutions of Belén de Escobar (JIRIMM N°1, Jardín de Infantes N°907, Escuela Primaria N°8, Escuela Primaria N°11, Escuela Primaria N°22, Escuela Secundaria N°10, Escuela Secundaria N°17, Escuela Secundaria Extensión N°2220) and of San Ignacio (Escuela Ntra Señora de Fátima, Escuela Especial N°9, Escuela N°44 - Núcleo, Escuela N°44 - Comunidad Tava Miri, Escuela N°44 - Comunidad Pindotyi, EPET N°12, BOP N°100, Escuela N°719, Escuela N°132, Escuela N°74, Escuela N°96Comunidad Mbocajaty, NENI N°2069, Escuela N°15, NENI N°96, Escuela de la Familia Agrícola), the municipalities and district headquarters of Escobar and San Ignacio, and to the park rangers of Osununú Nature Reserve.
Corresponding author email address: Ma. Catalina Beltramo, departamento_ educativo@temaiken.org.ar
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Belo Horizonte Zoo/FPMZB, Brazil.
Among so many threats to biodiversity, there is fauna roadkill. Launched in 2022, the “Ajudar é o Bicho!” campaign sought multiple partners, focusing on zoos and universities, in raising awareness of the impacts of highways on wild animals. Through the citizen science app called Urubu System (Urubu is vulture in Portuguese), roadkill incidences of a certain species in different regions of the country are being mapped by photographs sent in by citizens. These mapped points contribute to the identification of priority areas, or hotspots, for mobilisations. Belo Horizonte Zoo took an active part in supporting the campaign, believing it was an opportunity to inform the audience about the role and contributions of zoos in caring for endangered animals and the rehabilitation of animals that are victims of road vehicle accidents. To bring attention to this campaign, informative resources were produced, National and World Days of the species celebrated, along with backstage visits to the focus animals' enclosures and exhibits of biofacts and tracks. Over 4,100 people participated in the campaign's activities, and the interest and feedback from participants was recorded. Campaigns like this show that zoos need to improve their education strategies, so that integrated conservation actions have an even greater reach. It is possible to mobilise people to engage in actions that may influence public policies in favour of biodiversity conservation.
Brazil is the country with the greatest diversity of life on the planet, and it is estimated that 20% of all known species in the world are here, with many of these being endemic (UN Environment Programme, 2019). However, all this richness is threatened with extinction and with this, many ecological processes may be lost. Among so many threats to biodiversity, there is the threat to animals of road vehicle accidents - fauna roadkill.
According to Almeida (2019), linear undertakings such as highways and railways guarantee subsistence and maintenance of models of social organisation. Transport networks are essential for social and economic development, therefore, they help determine the types of use and the level of anthropogenic interference on natural landscapes. Some of the environmental damages, to which the road network is associated, are the disposal of waste, deforestation, transmission of disease, pollution, soil erosion, and habitat fragmentation, in addition to impacts on the population dynamics of the wild animals that inhabit or make use of areas in their vicinity to look for food or reproduce. Wild fauna being killed on roads is one of the most direct impacts of road operation, causing significant damage to biodiversity and the health
of road users (Almeida, 2019; Curvo et al., 2021; Ribeiro et al., 2022). The National Department of Infrastructure and Transport states that Brazil has 1,720,909 kilometres of federal, state, and municipal highways. It is estimated that around 475 million wild animals are killed by being hit on Brazilian roads each year (Sistema Urubu, 2023).
With that in mind, the Brazilian Center for Studies in Road Ecology (CBEE) at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) has sought to bring together people and institutions interested in contributing to reducing the environmental impacts of roads on Brazilian biodiversity. Through the citizen science app, called Urubu System, roadkill incidences of a certain species in different regions of the country are being mapped by photographs sent in by citizens, which then contribute to the identification of priority areas or hotspots (Figure 1).
The submitted records undergo a validation process by experts in taxonomy or people with scientific knowledge in one of the four classes (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) of vertebrates that make up the database.
Created in 2014, the Urubu System has become one of the largest social networks for the conservation of Brazilian biodiversity and identifies critical areas of fauna being run over. The name Urubu was given to the app, which translated from Portuguese means vulture, as it is a scavenger bird skilled in locating the carcasses of wild animals run over on the roads. It is a widely distributed species in Brazil and represents the objective of the app.
In 2022, with the support of other organisations, and focusing on partnerships with zoos and universities, the CBEE launched the “Ajudar é o Bicho!” Campaign, in which ten zoos participated. Zoos and aquariums have a large audience and unique potential to spread conservation messages. In Brazil, approximately 20 million people visit these institutions annually (Furtado-Neto, 2015). Zoological institutions work together with state and federal inspection bodies in the care and rehabilitation of rescued animals, victims of human activities (such as being run over), forest fires, and trafficking of wild species, among others. Zoos prioritise actions for conservation
and the development of research and reproduction programs for animals that are under human care, especially those threatened with extinction. Animal management and welfare, education, and sustainability are also among zoos’ priorities.
The Belo Horizonte Zoo took an active part in supporting the campaign, believing it was an opportunity to highlight the role and contributions of zoos in caring for endangered animals and in the rehabilitation of animals that were victims of impacts of highways on Brazilian wildlife. By showcasing the Urubu System app, how it works and its benefits for fauna, people can feel motivated to contribute to the reduction of this threat to wildlife.
Activities related to the Campaign consisted of a weekly chat, which took place in an educational place in the Zoo. Other educational actions were carried out to celebrate important dates on the environmental calendar (Figure 2) from April to November 2022, when the Campaign ended. Before each activity, news articles were prepared for the Belo Horizonte City Hall (PBH) website and for the press. After each educational activity, a social media post was shared on the work carried out. In addition to the informative resources, samples of biofacts were showcased (bird eggs, feathers and snake skin shedding, among others) and animal tracks placed out, such as footprints made in plaster, to draw the attention of visitors (Figure 3). This created an opportune moment to present the different species, as well as raise awareness of the Campaign. On days dedicated to a particular species, such as World Tapir Day, there was also a backstage visit to the animal's enclosure - an activity aimed at generating empathy and connecting people to wildlife.
Each of the partner zoos received some support materials from the CBEE, such as the flyer referring to the citizen science app Urubu System, to help develop the educational activities. A small bag for vehicular garbage was distributed as a gift to people who downloaded and registered in the app (Figure 4). Three banners, one about the Campaign and two referring to the two species highlighted by the Campaign at the Belo Horizonte Zoo, the jaguar (Panthera onca) and the giant anteater, were installed near the animals’ enclosures (Figure 5). To further enrich the educational activities, the Zoo produced other graphic materials, such as postcards to be distributed to the participants and posters of different sizes. Each one contained the photo of the featured species of the Campaign, followed by the following hashtag: "#Ajudar é o Bicho BH Zoo is part of it". Other posters had illustrations and awareness messages, such as “Give passage to life” and “Slow down for the fauna to cross”.
From April to November 2022, twelve educational activities were carried out, with 3,025 participants. The audience consisted mainly of families, and groups of friends. Also during this period, there was a parallel mobilisation with 34 Zoo employees and 153 university students in technical visits to the Zoo who, together with the 947 participants of informal weekly chats or visitor talks, totalled 1,134 people. Therefore, the total number of direct participants in the different activities was 4,159 people (Table 1).
From April to November 2022, twelve educational activities were carried out, with 3,025 participants. The audience consisted mainly of families, and groups of friends. Also during this period, there was a parallel mobilisation with 34 Zoo employees and 153 university students in technical visits to the Zoo who, together with the 947 participants of informal weekly chats or visitor talks, totalled 1,134 people. Therefore, the total number of direct participants in the different activities was 4,159 people (Table 1).
It is worth mentioning that from the news articles made available on the Belo Horizonte City Hall website and for the different communication channels, educational activities were shared in both the local and national media, which contributed to expanding their reach. Another action with a positive return was the social media posts, which, in addition to the comments showing support, were also shared by the Campaign's creators.
According to 2022 data from the Urubu System app, Belo Horizonte is shown as the city that most contributed to new users, representing around 10% of the total, and the best engagement rate (Table 2). Belo Horizonte ranked as the second city in the total number of events. No other institution in the capital of Minas Gerais state was known to be working on the theme at the time; it can be inferred that the educational activities developed by the Belo Horizonte Zoo’s staff are directly related to these numbers.
The evaluation of activities like this is still a challenge. For this Campaign, an audience control form was prepared, in which the Zoo team, in addition to recording the number of people served, indicated their interest levels, and whether they knew of and used the Urubu System app. The Zoo team also noted any novel or spontaneous comments. From the data analysis, the result was quite satisfactory and reinforced through moments of interaction with the audience. For example, a child who was taking part in the activity, proudly commented that his father was a truck driver who is very careful when driving and, when necessary, even stops the vehicle in case of an animal on the road. When the father approached, he asked if it would be possible to make some flyers available to share with colleagues at the company where he worked. On another occasion, after a long conversation with two university students (one studying law and the other engineering), they downloaded and registered in the citizen science app on the spot and commented that they would share it with their classmates.
After analysis, it was observed that the educational actions of the “Ajudar é o Bicho!” Campaign addresses some of the recommendations in chapters 2 and 3 of the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Education Strategy (WZACES; Thomas, 2020). Chapter 2 Embedding Multiple Purposes of Conservation Education into Zoos and Aquariums, has as one of the recommendations to motivate pro-environmental behaviours, actions, and advocacy toward species and the natural world (Thomas, 2020). Through the educational actions, we observed people starting to make use of a citizen science tool that helps to map incidences of wild fauna roadkill. This supports the identification of affected species and areas, and helps base actions and public policies to adopt mitigating measures more effectively. Chapter 3 Promoting Conservation Education for All, has as one of its recommendations that the zoo or aquarium should expand their reach and opportunities for people to learn about,
and get involved in conservation onsite, offsite, and online (Thomas, 2020). The Campaign's educational actions were developed in two external events - the 11th Belo Horizonte International Half Marathon, and participation in World Animal Day with the Museum of Natural Sciences of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. A stand was set up with information panels on the Campaign, animal tracks, life-size animal models, and an area for children to colour drawings of the focus animals.
Through educational campaigns such as “Ajudar é o Bicho!”, it is possible to mobilise people to engage in actions that may influence future public policies in favour of biodiversity conservation.
We are sincerely grateful to Alex Barger, CBEE/UFLA Coordinator and creator of the Urubu System, to the interns and mediators of the Environmental Education Management, ticketing staff, park guards, and the Zoo Team.
Corresponding author email address: Humberto Espírito Santo de Mello, hmello@ pbh.gov.br
Almeida, L. T. (2019). Socio-environmental factors that induce the running over of wild fauna. Dissertation (Master in Development and Environment) - Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza.
Barongi, R., Fisken, F. A., Parker, M. and Gusset, M. (eds) (2015). Committing to Conservation: The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy. Gland: WAZA Executive Office, 69 pp.
Curvo, L. R. V., Alencar, S. B. A., Kreutz, F. I., Barbosa, G. C. R., Costa, C. S. and Ferreira, M. W. (2020). Atropelamento de fauna silvestre em uma Reserva da Biosfera no Brasil: ameaças à conservação do Pantanal Norte do Brasil (in English: Run over of wild fauna in a Biosphere Reserve in Brazil: threats to the conservation of the Northern Pantanal of Brazil). Revista Ibero Americana de Ciências Ambientais, 12(1), 114-125.
Furtado-Neto, M. (2015). An Evaluation of Public Aquariums in São Paulo (Brazil) in light of the Global Aquarium Strategy for Conservation and Sustainability. Arquivos de Ciências do Mar, 48, 5-15.
Ribeiro, T. R. S., Laranja, R. E. P. and Barbieri, C. B. (2022). Dinâmica das Rodovias: O Papel do Tráfego nos Índices de Atropelamentos de Fauna (in English: The Role of Traffic in Fauna Accident Rates). Society & Nature, 34, 1-11.
Sistema Urubu. (2023). Available at: https://sistemaurubu.com.br/ [Accessed 21 February 2023].
Thomas, S. (2020). Social Change for Conservation: The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Education Strategy. Barcelona: WAZA Executive Office, 89pp.
UN Environment Programme. (2019). Megadiverse Brazil: giving biodiversity an online boost. Available at: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/megadiverse-brazil-giving-biodiversity-online-boost [Accessed 25 June 2023].
Recently, zoos have started promoting awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Primary awareness of the SDGs includes campaigns to improve Goal 14 (Life below water) and Goal 15 (Life on land). However, zoos are also suitable for people of all ages to learn about the SDGs themselves. Therefore, we developed a new SDGs education program named “Learning the SDGs through animal ecology.” This program aimed to achieve an in-depth understanding of the SDGs and examine actions required by human beings to achieve them through learning from animal ecology. The program was repeated six times in 2022 - three times for elementary students, and once each for high school students, college students, and adults (a total of approximately 80 individuals). Participants were first presented with the animal SDG, which replaced the SDG titles for all 17 goals with words related to animal ecology. For example, Goal 11 - Sustainable cities and communities was replaced with “Strategy of creating a safe nest or habitat area”. Participants then observed the behaviours of zoo animals and learned about how they interact with the world around them for the improvement of animal life and the global environment. Finally, participants reviewed human society, by taking a cue from animal’s relationships and coexisting with nature, to derive pathways for improving quality of life through concrete actions that will positively impact the global environment and human wellbeing. According to the participants’ reports, this program helped them to contemplate the issues in the SDGs. Our findings suggest that the program was perceived as a useful component of education on the SDGs.
Zoos are recognised as a valuable educational tool for promoting public understanding of the environment (UNESCO, 2018) and have more recently promoted awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Primary awareness about SDGs included campaigns aimed at improving Goal 14 (Life below water), and Goal 15 (Life on land). For example, one campaign prompted visitors to consider their role in safeguarding the animal environment against anthropogenic threats, such as habitat destruction (Nagoya City Higashiyama Zoo, 2021; Tamiya et al., 2021). However, zoos also have the potential to serve as effective learning environments for people of all ages to understand the SDGs more comprehensively.
Therefore, we developed a new SDGs education program named “Learning the SDGs through animal ecology.” This program aimed to achieve an in-depth understanding of the SDGs and explore concrete actions that can be taken to achieve them, by learning from animal ecology.
The program was repeated six times in 2022 - three times for elementary students (6-12 years old), and once each for high school students (15-18 years old), college students, and adults (a total of approximately 80 individuals). The program was approximately 1to 4 hours long. Participants were first presented with the animal SDGs, which replaced the SDG titles (for all 17 goals) with words related to animal ecology (Table 1). As a visual, we created animal SDG icons in line with the SDG icons (Figure 1).
Participants were divided into groups of four to five. Through observations, conversations with the zookeepers, and the signs posted in front of animal enclosures, the participants collected and noted ecological information about the animals (Table 2, column A). The number of species observed were modified based on the length of the program. They then identified the relevant animal SDG numbers for the ecological information they noted and matched them with the relevant animal SDG number (Table 2, column B).
Species (A) Animal ecology
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) Hyenas consume the entirety of their prey including the bones.
Japanese squirrel (Sciurus lis)
Squirrels hoard food in wood or underground for winter season.
American beaver (Castor canadensis) Beavers secrete an oily substance to waterproof their fur.
Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) Penguins utilise their beaks for communication.
Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) Monkeys drink water that had fallen from a rock.
Senegal galago (Galago senegalensis)
Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)
Galagos maintain their balance by using their tail to swing as they move.
(B) Related animal SDG Number
2, 12
All the dishes served to us are to be finished. Elementary school
2, 7 Increase storage canning food that need not energy and allow for long-term store. Elementary school
9 This could lead to new ideas to advance waterproofing technology for rainwear. High school
11 Humans could utilise sign language to effectively communicate despite language barriers. High school
6 Producing safe and clean drinking water by collecting and purifying rainwater in towns. College
9
If we develop an umbrella that can scan wind direction and adjust its position, humans can maintain their balance in stormy weather conditions. College
Penguins follow the penguin who dives first into the water. 8, 11 Encourage others to give up their seat for the elderly or anyone else in need on public transport or anywhere else. Adult
Black-tufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) Marmoset parents work together to raise their child, carrying the little one on their backs.
5 Encourage proactive uptake of parental leave and increase the ratio of available childcare leave. Adult
Based on their observations of the animals and the social issues of each SDG, each group discussed concrete actions that could be done to support the SDGs and improve quality of life (Table 2, column C). No constraints were placed on the proposed ideas, even if they could not be immediately implemented. As a result, individuals of all ages were able to share their insights and perspectives within the designated timeframe.
Each group was given time to present their ideas to a larger audience, through which they gained new perspectives that led to even more new ideas. Their ideas ranged from those with immediate effects and easy implementation, to those involving futuristic technology.
Based on the participants’ reports, the program not only helped them learn about animal ecologies, but also provided them with the opportunity to learn about SDG issues, strengthening their attitude towards pursuing action related to them in the future.
Our program can help promote SDGs education at zoos for various age groups. Not only is the program expected to educate participants about the ecology of animals, it also allows them to learn about social issues related to SDGs and encourage them to come up with real ideas that support the SDGs.
We are grateful to Shinobu Ofuchi for his detailed comments and insightful suggestions, which were instrumental in the development of this program. We would also like to extend our sincerest appreciation to the students of Chiba University Graduate School of Science and Engineering and the staff at Chiba Zoological Park for their support. Corresponding author email address: Yu Nakayama, elenx2c@gmail.com
Tamiya, Y., Takami, Y., and Kakishima, Y. (2021). Learning Program at Nihondaira Zoo: SDGs Digital Picture Book (in Japanese). Shizuoka City Nihondaira Zoo website. Available at: https://www.nhdzoo.jp/learning_program/ [Accessed 6 March 2023].
Nagoya City Higashiyama Zoo. (2021). Worksheets for animal and flora: Think about endangered species (in Japanese). Nagoya City Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Garden web site. Available at: https://www.higashiyama.city.nagoya.jp/education_guide/ self/index.html [Accessed 6 March 2023].
UNESCO. (2018). Issues and trends in education for sustainable development. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: France. 276pp.
Table 2: Examples of ideas proposed by participants. Table 2 - Examples of ideas proposed by participants (C) Ideas for human action Age groupTaipei Zoo, Taiwan.
For learning about biodiversity, sustainable life and food health, Taipei Zoo, Taiwan, created a project named “The Rainforest on the Shelf" which includes a comic exhibit, and a classroom decorated as virtual market shelves with food, drink, snacks, and cleaning products that are commonly found and purchased in supermarkets. Some of the products are marked with environmentally friendly labels, and a shopping list (learning resource sheet) was designed for the teacher and children campaign. The campaign program takes everyone to visit this simulated supermarket, and as a detective, encourages them to find out about the "rainforest crisis" hidden behind our daily consumer goods. Games and play are used to introduce people to and help find the "rainforest ingredients" in the product labels, and learn more about sustainable palm oil, RSPO, Fairtrade, and various environmentally friendly labels. Through the cartoon pictures wall, we show the conflict between small palm oil farmers and rainforest resident, Mr. Orangutan. The hope is that by experiencing this special program people can recognise the distance between us and wildlife and be willing to choose consumer behaviours that could protect the rainforest, the biodiversity, and our lives.
The ecosystem services of the rainforest are not only important as a habitat for many wildlife, but also very important for human beings in terms of food, medicine, timber, and climate regulation. Therefore, the value of the rainforest is self-evident for zoos and aquariums whose mission is to protect wildlife. For zoo visitors, many mammals and endangered species living in the rainforest are also popular for visitors when they come to the zoo. However, most of the time, visitors don't know what kind of relationship the animals in front of them have with people.
“The Rainforest on the Shelves” is a project to connect the people with the rainforest, wildlife, and their lives through the stories behind the consumer chain. The aim is to let consumers think about their daily consumer behaviour choices and the impact on the environment. Among the impacts is deforestation of rainforests for oil palm trees, which is directly related to the supply of daily necessities for consumers (WWF, 2023). Because of the global demand for palm oil, rainforest areas have been progressively reduced.
The issues of food security and biodiversity in recent years have become an opportunity for us to encourage the public to choose consumer goods that are rainforest friendly or environmentally friendly products. In October 2018, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and invited WAZA member zoos and aquariums to start their own palm oil awareness programs, as well as make the switch to sourcing certified sustainable palm oil (WAZA, 2023).
In fact, sustainable palm oil is an unfamiliar term for Taiwanese people. Most people are familiar with the environment protection label that can save energy and reduce carbon emissions, but few people know that they can choose environmentally friendly food or daily necessities, such as the
Taiwan Green Conservation Label, tea bags and coffee drinks from the Rainforest Alliance. In 2018, Taipei Zoo, Taiwan, opened a new tropical rainforest indoor pavilion - Pangolin Dome. Taking this opportunity, we added the issue of sustainable palm oil to promote environmentally friendly behaviours, inviting consumers to think about and check ingredient labels before purchasing. This is to support the local conservation action of choosing environmentally friendly products. To help the public to care more about the connection between rainforests, animals and human lives, Taipei Zoo’s Education Section created a project called “The Rainforest on the Shelves - The Challenge for Rainforest Sustainability" and secured budget support from the Environmental Protection Agency in Taiwan during 2019-2020. Taipei Zoo have developed the programs for this project and applied them into related parent and child activities.
In order to help the public understand the relationship between our daily lives, rainforest wildlife, and the actions we could take for protecting our rainforest, Taipei Zoo planned a special exhibition "Rainforest on the Shelves" (Figure 1). This exhibition simulated a supermarket within a classroom, decorated with pictures of daily consumer products and food, some of which had rainforest friendly or green labels/certification such as Rainforest Alliance, RSPO, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Taiwan Green Marks (Figure 2 and 3).
Consumers tend to pay attention to the flavour, price, and date of manufacture on food packaging, but few people read or check the composition of the ingredients. In recent years, because of food safety, the traceability of agricultural products has been emphasised but the common environmentally friendly labels such as Rainforest Alliance symbols on packaging still lack concern.
Figure 1: A classroom with “Rainforest on the Shelves” exhibition. Figure 2: Awareness of environmentally friendly labels on packaging bags.In this project, we have developed parent-child camps, teacher seminars, and workshops for different target audiences. The overall project is shown in Table 1.
For the “Rainforest on the Shelves” project, various environmental education activities were planned for different target audiences and purposes. These include:
a. Virtual supermarket - the semi-outdoor classroom with the special exhibition
"Orangutan and palm oil - the rainforest on the shelves” for visitors and volunteers.
b. Parent and child camp for rainforest task.
c. Rainforest biodiversity teachers' camp and workshop.
d. Zoo outreach.
The Rainforest Detectives and Green Consumers are the core activities of the project, which introduce sustainable palm oil and smart choices for voting our future. The Rainforest Detectives is a game designed for use in the parent-child program, teacher training courses, and the workshop. The "Rainforest on the Shelves" creates virtual shelves with food, drink, snacks, or cleaning products that are commonly found and purchased in supermarkets. Some of the products are marked with environmentally friendly labels, and a shopping list (learning sheet; Figure 4) is used to role play being a detective to discover the "rainforest ingredients - palm oil" hidden in the real food packaging. Before the detective game, participants have a class which teaches them about animals living in the rainforest (and zoo) and why their plight is linked with the palm oil issue.
We conducted 4 parent-child camps, 100 person and 4 teachers’ camp, with 195 participants in the summer. We conducted an evaluation after the camps, and a questionnaire (5-point Likert scale) was used for participants' self-assessment. There was significant feedback in the result, and this article outlines only the Rainforest Detectives part of the results of the parent-child camp and the teachers' camp before and after learning self-assessment.
Through the learning process in the camp, we found that people who participated in parent-child camp (Figure 5) or teachers' camp (Figure 6) were unfamiliar with the rainforest at the beginning. After completing camp courses, participants learned about the rainforest crisis, wildlife habitat loss and what actions they could take to save our rainforest in daily life.
Issues and products related to sustainable palm oil are rare in Taiwan, and usually only appear on imported products. On the one hand, most participants, teachers, or parents did not understand the environmentally friendly products, labels, or green conservation certification marks before joining the camps. Through the guidance of the course “Rainforest on the Shelves” and the field trip experience of the zoo, they began to have a new understanding of how their consumer choices would change the face of the rainforest. Their feedback obtained from the questionnaire
Figure 4: Using the learning sheet to find the product with the green eco-labels. Figure 5: Results from the Rainforest Detectives parent-child camp.showed some new thinking on consumer behaviours, with the hope they can convey this concept to their friends and families to make smart and green choices in the supermarket.
Corresponding author email address: Chien-Chu Wu, tgx11@zoo.gov.tw
Chester Zoo. (2023). Sustainable Palm Oil: Everything You Need To Know. Available at: https://www. chesterzoo.org/what-you-can-do/our-campaigns/sustainable-palm-oil/ [Accessed 30 June 2023].
WAZA. (2023). Sustainable Palm Oil Resources for Zoos and Aquariums. Available at: https://wazapalmoil. org/ [Accessed 30 June 2023].
WWF UK. (2023). 8 Things to Know About Palm Oil. Available at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/8things-know-about-palm-oil [Accessed 30 June 2023].
Zoos Victoria. (2023). Don't Palm Us Off. Available at: https://www.zoo.org.au/dont-palm-us-off/ [Accessed 30 June 2023].
Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo, United States of America.
In October 2021, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Bronx Zoo Education Department began offering onsite classroom programs for school groups after an 18-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Restarting these programs gave us a unique opportunity to address an issue we had been contemplating for years - how do we meaningfully integrate our mission of inspiring the next generation of conservation advocates, while meeting the needs of teachers in a one-hour program? We implemented the backward design method to create four new programs, each developed with a specific, realistic, and age-appropriate conservation action at its core and a secondary focus on practising education standards-based skills that support school teachers. We will highlight how zoo education staff were positively impacted by this new program development method and discuss evaluation methods and results from teacher surveys. This article will detail how we developed the new programs and delve into the unexpected but invaluable impacts of creating mission aligned programs by integrating conservation action into lessons for school groups.
Like many zoos and aquariums around the world, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Bronx Zoo, in New York, closed its doors to visitors and stopped all in-person programming in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the zoo was able to reopen in July that year, Education Department programs continued to be mostly virtual until June 2021. As schools began to return to consistent in-person learning that September, and we discussed resuming indoor programming for school groups (classroom programs), we had a decision to make. We could bring back all the classroom programs we had been offering prior to the pandemic or we could take a risk and use this unique opportunity to start from scratch and design all new classroom programs. We chose to take the risk.
Our previous classroom programs were developed to support the needs of teachers by providing programs aligned with the topics and skills they are mandated to teach by national and local government education standards (NYCDOE, 2018). This meant starting with a topic taught in schools, figuring out how to relate our animal and ecology expertise to that topic, developing a program that we hoped teachers would find useful, and then trying to find a related conservation message or action that we could add on, usually to the end of the program. While these classroom programs were successful, we felt that there was only a loose connection to our Education Department mission to “inspire a diverse, inclusive movement of conservation advocates by sparking connection with animals and nature, enhancing scientific literacy through hands-on investigation, and engaging constituents in stewardship and action to conserve wildlife and wild places” (Wildlife Conservation Society, 2023).
In creating our new programs from scratch, we asked ourselves the question: how do we meaningfully integrate our mission of inspiring the next generation of conservation advocates, while also meeting the needs of teachers in a one-hour program? The answer we found was to start with the conservation action we wanted to cultivate and work backwards to develop a
program that would give students the opportunity to engage in that action (conservation action focused program). Beginning with a conservation action outcome in mind, we used this backward design method (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011) to create four new programs: one for each of our four main age groups. Each program was developed with a specific, realistic, and age-appropriate conservation action at its core and with a secondary focus on practising education standards-based skills, such as making observations, asking questions, and making evidence-based arguments (NYCDOE, 2018) that supports the needs of school teachers.
In this article, we detail how we decided what type of conservation action was appropriate for each age group and how each program integrates the chosen action. We describe the evaluation methods used to assess the impact of the new conservation action focused programs compared to the topic focused programs, from both the school teacher and zoo educator perspectives, and the surprising results of these evaluations. Finally, we discuss the lessons learned, what questions we still have, and what steps we would like to take to further integrate our mission into all our Education Department programs.
The first step we took in the backward design method was to identify a specific, realistic, and age-appropriate conservation action for each of our four main age groups: 4-7 years old, 8-10 years old, 11-13 years old, and 14-18 years old. Our team of educators developed a list of conservation actions we had tried in the past for each age group that were successful and why. We researched how other institutions incorporated conservation actions into their programming, and shared new ideas we had. As a team, we agreed upon an age-appropriate conservation goal for each age group and determined the specific conservation action we would utilise within the program to guarantee student involvement.
For ages 4-7, the conservation goal is building empathy for wildlife and the specific conservation action within the program is to draw an animal that reminds them of themselves. Additionally, students are given the opportunity to closely observe and touch an animal (Figure 1). Both activities help build cognitive empathy through allowing students to make comparisons between the animals and themselves (Seattle Aquarium, 2019).
For ages 8-10, the goal is to help local animals and the action is to design a way to help local animals within their own communities (Figure 2). Children of this age are beginning to develop the ability for abstract thought (Crain, 2000), so this program helps develop that ability by encouraging students to assume the perspective of a familiar animal.
For ages 11-13, the goal is to participate in a community science project, and the action is to collect and submit data to iNaturalist, since data collection is a science skill that is emphasised in schools in New York City for this age group (NYCDOE, 2018).
For the oldest age group, 14-18 years old, the goal is to get involved with political policy by participating in the action of writing letters, using the provided template (Figure 3), to local government officials advocating for an environmental cause they are passionate about. This action was chosen because it gives teens the opportunity to develop their own voice and values.
Once these goals and actions were determined, the team developed one-hour long programs for each age group with the main purpose being to ensure student engagement in the conservation action during the program. Each lesson plan was created by two to three team members and reviewed by the rest of the team before implementation in October 2021.
To capture the thoughts of the educators involved in creating and implementing classroom programs we conducted interviews with each team member and took voice recordings of the sessions. We developed a total of five questions - two of the questions were regarding the planning process and three of the questions were regarding program implementation. The five team members that were involved in the planning process were asked all five questions, while the four educators who were not involved in the curriculum development were only asked the three implementation questions.
The WCS Education Department collects feedback from teachers using a short survey that is emailed at the end of each program. The survey includes several questions about teachers’ perceptions of the program’s impact on students’ learning about conservation issues and actions. The questions use a retrospective pre- and post- format, asking teachers to rate students’ knowledge before
and after the program. We analysed data from the survey collected between October 2021 and early December 2022 for each of the three types of educator-led programs we offer - Classroom Programs, Outdoor Adventures, and Virtual Field Trips. Outdoor Adventures and Virtual Field Trips were developed using the more traditional school learning focused method and therefore allowed us to evaluate if there was a difference in impact between the two development methods. We calculated the difference between the teachers’ responses for “Now, after the program” and “Before the program” and calculated the percentage of teachers that reported a positive change, no change, or negative change in their students' knowledge of conservation actions.
Instructors were asked if the conservation action focused programs impacted their connection with the WCS Education mission, and 8 out of 9 of them indicated that teaching these programs positively connected them to our mission. A word cloud containing the 30 most-used words while answering this question is shown in Figure 4. One instructor stated, “I think it did help connect me back to the mission. To know and to be reminded that not only are we inspiring the next generation of conservation advocates, we are showing them how to take that advocacy and turn it into action.” Another instructor shared that teaching these programs “makes [her] proud to be part of an organisation that is focusing on conservation” and that this makes her “want to be more involved and it makes [her] enjoy [her] job more.” Creating these mission-aligned programs has increased staff connection to the mission and staff morale. When we decided to create four new conservation action focused programs, we thought it would be a great opportunity to align our offerings with our organisational mission, but we did not foresee the increased connection to the mission the education staff would feel. This unexpected outcome is exciting and very positive, as feeling connected to a common mission is correlated with increased employee retention (Bersin, 2013).
One of our instructors shared that she "thinks that we’ve done a good job of incorporating conservation actions [into our programs] but [she] still thinks there is definitely room to grow in that area.” To make our programs more impactful, it is immensely important to effectively get participants to engage in and understand the importance of conservation actions. This is a constant challenge, so we are always assessing our programs and are open to new ideas and change. Having the main goal of each school program be grounded in our organisation’s mission is a great step in the right direction.
Figure 5 summarises the data from the responses to the post-program teacher survey between October 2021, when the new programs became available, and December 2022 (n=205). On average, approximately one-third of teachers reported a positive change in their students’ knowledge of how to help wildlife and the environment after participating in one of the Bronx Zoo school programs. The type of school program they attended did not make a significant difference in their reported impact on student knowledge of conservation actions (p=0.504). This data suggests that the new conservation action centred programs have the same impact on student knowledge of conservation actions as Outdoor Adventure and Virtual Field Trip programs.
However, responses to open ended questions indicate that for some the focus on conservation action was appreciated and meaningful. One teacher wrote “as an educator, my favourite part was writing the letters to Bronx representatives, calling for more action on mitigating climate change, encouraging students to have a voice in the battle against climate change.” Another shared that their favourite part of the program was giving students the opportunity to “talk about ways to help animals and be a good neighbour to them.” These examples show that the new programs do have a meaningful positive impact on some groups and encourage us to continue to innovate.
While choosing to replace all our old classroom programs and start fresh with these new conservation action focused programs was a risk, the overall result has been worth it. The biggest benefit we have seen so far in changing how we develop our education programs has been the impact on our zoo educator team. Centering our mission in our programs has helped develop a stronger sense of meaning and purpose in our work, which benefits the health of individual educators, as well as increasing the productivity and innovation of our team, which benefits the whole organisation (Bailey et al., 2018; Valcour, 2014).
While we have not yet seen the measurable impact on student knowledge of conservation actions that we had hoped for, the feedback from some teachers that they appreciated the opportunity for their students to participate in a conservation action is encouragement to continue this new practice. Additionally, our school program bookings for 2022-2023 are on track to be higher than pre-pandemic bookings, so the change has not negatively impacted our reach or revenue. We will continue to evaluate our programming and look for ways to build in formative assessments that will give us a better understanding of students’ current thinking around conservation action.
We plan to expand our practice of using the backward design method to centre our organisational mission into the development of additional classroom programs. We will also explore how this technique can be used to develop mission centred programming for children and families.
We would like to thank and acknowledge the support we received in writing this article from SuJen Roberts and Shuli Rank (WCS Research and Evaluation), Dave Johnston (WCS Professional Development), Alix Cotumaccio (Bronx Zoo Education), Bronx Zoo educators (past and present), and Dos Puentes Elementary School.
Corresponding author email address: Veronica Miller, vmiller@wcs.org
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Human-animal interaction (HAI) is an area of research that has predominantly focused on domestic mammals. But what if, the power of human-animal interaction extends beyond domestic mammals? A 2017 study conducted at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium evaluated outcomes of an educational HAI program with koi fish (Cyprinus rubrofuscus). Results showed increases in youth knowledge and ratings of their attitudes, beliefs, and values about koi and three other species of teleost fish: angelfish (Pterophyllum altum), grouper (Epinephelus spp), and trout (Salmonidae).
Increases in youth ratings of conservation behaviour importance and conservation behaviours performed, as well as increases in feelings of bonding and attachment to koi were also reported. Additionally, children described improved moods and greater feelings of wellbeing in themselves and perceived positive changes in the wellbeing of the koi too. Educational HAI Program Theory and the Educational Human-Animal Interaction Program Design Model were developed from these 2017 findings.
Another result of the 2017 study was the development of an interdisciplinary, multiinstitutional program and research project examining educational human-animal interaction programs in zoological settings, the Human-Animal Interaction (HAI)Conservation, Education, Welfare, Health, Attachment, Learning, and Leadership (CEWHALL) Program & Research Project (PRP). In 2021, the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, in partnership with Robert Morris University’s Center for Innovation and Outreach, offered its first HAI-CEWHALL Program Workshop. A program evaluation was performed. Workshop evaluation results were consistent with 2017 study results, suggesting strong potential for an aquatic species (koi), as an effective and engaging animal partner in zoo/aquarium educational HAI programs. Based on both the 2017 study and 2021 workshop program evaluation results, some mechanisms that may underpin effective educational HAI programs in zoos have been identified. These findings may provide insight for the development of future conservation education programs incorporating HAI.
Conservation education goals include development of fact-based animal and conservation knowledge as well as shifting of the underlying attitudes, beliefs, and values of visitors/students to affect longer-term social outcomes and sustained conservation-based behaviour change. Conservation education programs that establish recognition of the importance of conservation
behaviours and nurture intentions for future conservation-based behaviour change are foundational for creating the sustainable human behavioural change zoos strive to achieve for conservation of biodiversity globally.
Zoos and aquariums uniquely provide opportunities for educational human-animal interaction (HAI) programs; such experiences have been shown to increase visitor/student enjoyment and to positively impact conservation education goals (Ballantyne et al., 2007; Fuhrman & Ladewig, 2008; Zasloff & Hart, 1999). However, the mechanisms that underlie the phenomenon of educational HAI programs are not completely identified or understood (Fuhrman & Ladewig, 2008). The impact of HAI on animal wellbeing also requires further study because of its crucial ethical importance (Aerts et al., 2006; Almazan et al., 2011; Bloomsmith, 2009; Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 2023). Additionally, the literature suggests a need for evaluation of HAI with fish species. Moreover, although HAI with mammals is well studied and can improve health outcomes (Beetz et al., 2012), direct interaction with teleost fish is largely unexplored. Koi (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) are discerning and interactive – the perfect fish to study human, as well as animal, interactions (Bajer et al., 2010; Chase, 2001; Mesquita et al., 2015).
These factors led to the design of the 2017 Pittsburgh Zoo program which successfully increased knowledge and positively shifted attitudes, beliefs, and values regarding koi and three other species of teleost fish, while also enhancing welfare for program koi. Additional wellbeing benefits for humans also occurred. Furthermore, the Human-Animal Relationship (HAR)/Human-Animal Bond (HAB) and four features of attachment were identified, and percentages of both steadily increased with exposure levels. Findings further highlighted an additional positive relationship between pets at home and the young people’s feelings and actions relating to conservation, suggesting regular interactions with domestic animals – including koi – can influence how children perceive the value of conservation in their lives (Farmerie, 2018).
The Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) - Conservation, Education, Welfare, Health, Attachment, Learning, and Leadership (CEWHALL) Program & Research Project (PRP) was developed out of the data, theory, and model resulting from the 2017 study. Educational HAI Program (EHAIP) Theory developed by Farmerie (2018) suggests “The success of Educational HAI Programs involves the elicitation of positive emotional states in humans and positive emotional states in animals that allow for the development of a positive personal connection linked to attachment theory and the HAR/HAB. Elicitation of these positive emotional states through this framework may produce physiological changes that strengthen this personal connection which may become positively selfreinforcing for both humans and animals. As the nature of interaction is symbiotic, both the human and animal experience must be in alignment for optimal success. Therefore, when humans and animals are appropriately aligned, the elicitation of these positive emotional and physiological states in humans and the reflection of these same states in animal counterparts can create a greater inductive state of receptivity to increasing knowledge and shifting attitudes, beliefs, values, and conservation (and humane education) based behavioural changes and positive wellbeing in humans and enhanced welfare in animals”.
In 2021, the CEWHALL PRP team offered a one-week workshop at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium in partnership with Robert Morris University’s Center for Innovation and Outreach. The workshop included STEM and STEAM objectives. Children’s structured interactions with koi provided the methodology to teach, practice, and experience positive relationship building, science learning, enhanced animal welfare techniques, leadership skills development, conservation and sustainability processes, and wellness practices. Children’s interactions with the koi provided first-hand applications of these concepts (Figure 1).
Members of the CEWHALL PRP team acted as instructors through both in-person and online Zoom instruction. Lesson plans were developed to include human and animal “mirror” program components and to support an inductive learning environment (Figure 2). Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy was used to develop content delivery (Figure 3). The use of positive reinforcement training techniques to teach students how to humanely and positively interact with koi and other humans is a central concept that runs through the entire curriculum. Applied sessions were designed to help participants gain agency in working with koi and in understanding humane actions and conservation-based sustainability choices (Figure 4).
A program evaluation was conducted. Pre- and post- surveys were administered to evaluate changes in attitudes, beliefs, and values and to compare participants’ expectations for the program and their actual program experiences. The pre-test/post-test design utilised Paired Samples t-Tests to test the hypothesis that the koi interaction combined with the curriculum experience led to improvements in the various perceptual scales for participants. Note that any instances when a participant only answered either pre- or post- were removed from the analysis.
The 2021 program results are shown in Table 1. Significant one-tailed p values are reported; all represent a statistically significant improvement in student scores for questions about koi. Additionally, there were statistically significant positive changes in intelligence ratings of all three other fish species. Grouper also showed significance on a one-tail test for individual identity.
* = significant at p<0.05 one-tail test Pets at
–
n=1
Table 1: 2021 program results.
Although not at the level of statistical significance, descriptive statistics revealed increases in all areas for the three other species of fish surveyed. This suggests a positive trend for ratings of other fish species after an educational HAI program with koi. More research in this area is needed to further understand these findings. The increased ratings of other fish species occurred without any
Table 1: 2021 program results – Pre vs Post Test, Dependent samples t-test.curriculum instruction, indicating that an inductive process may be occurring. This is consistent with the findings of previous research (Farmerie, 2018). Participants also reported that their experiences exceeded their positive expectations for the workshop. Results indicate success with both the program’s curriculum and participants’ satisfaction with the program.
Post parental/familial surveys were also administered to determine program impact and parental satisfaction. Parents/family members reported that 100% of participants talked about their experiences at home. Ninety-six percent of family members responded that their child was “excited” about what they learned with 53.8% of families reporting that their child was “extremely excited” about what they learned, and 80% percent of family members also reported that their child’s experiences caused them to think differently about fish. Lastly, 100% of parents responded that they would send their child to another CEWHALL Program offering in the future.
Effective educational HAI programs are in high demand in zoos and aquariums, as is research on program outcomes and program animal wellbeing. The CEWHALL PRP endeavours to provide science-based data to inform both these areas. In the larger HAI science community, Animal Assisted Interventions/Animal Assisted Education are the terms that refer to what zoos and aquariums describe as “Ambassador Animal Programs.” Ng (2019) stated, “The animal that is physically healthy, predictable, reliable…will be the best suited for AAI [Animal Assisted Intervention(s)]”. Koi possess these qualities and are truly remarkable. As charismatic as dogs, these beautiful “water puppies” have the potential to ignite a connection between humans and fish that appears to stimulate people to extrapolate their experiences with koi to other species of fish in rivers and oceans alike.
As the CEWHALL program curriculum has a strong focus on animal learning through operant conditioning and, as increases in ratings of intelligence were statistically significant for all four species of fish surveyed, the integration of participant-based animal training into conservation education program design (ethically and safely considered through the EHAIP Theory and Design Model), could be a beneficial curriculum component to consider (Figure 5). Especially as perceptions of animal intelligence can impact conservation attitudes and potentially conservation actions as well (Chan, 2012; Root-Bernstein et al., 2013). Concepts developed as a part of CEWHALL programming could also be applied to many other domestic species residing in zoos/ aquariums.
bond as “a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and other animals that is influenced by behaviours that are essential to the health and wellbeing of both” (JAVMA, 1998).
Thus, HAI and the HAR/HAB have an important connection to the missions of accredited zoos and aquariums, not only for the goals of inspiring humane and conservation-based behaviour changes in visitors, but also for enhancing the wellbeing of the animals under human care that live in zoos. Although harder to observe than habitat space, diet, species specific social requirements, or veterinary care, the HAR/HAB is a main pillar of wellbeing for animals under human care. To date, only a limited effort has been made within the zoological field to address the important role and impact of HAIs through ongoing scientific study. The studies that have been done within the field to date indicate the increasing need to rigorously study this phenomenon and its relationship to both animal and human health and wellbeing (Birke et al., 2019; Hosey et al., 2018; Hosey et al., 2012).
Additionally, the One Health/One Welfare concept, is an area of increasing conservation research interest and traditional zoo goals now include social science research goals to understand the psychology of the zoo visitor and “the need to study the human dimension of conservation” (Kubarek et al., 2020). HAI is part of the “human dimension” and increased social science research is consistent with the One Health/One Welfare concept (Johnson et al., 2020). Interestingly, as 80% of participants’ family members reported that their child’s experiences with the koi caused them to think differently about fish, this implies there may also be social learning allowing the program’s conservation and humane education goals to extend beyond the program’s direct participants. This is just one example of how the HAR/HAB and attachment are extremely important phenomena for zoos to understand so they can more effectively meet their missions of conservation, education, and optimal animal welfare.
Consideration of the EHAIP Theory and Design Model may assist conservation education practitioners as they develop their programs. Furthermore, expanded, and careful contemplation of non-traditional domestic animal species, such as koi, may also help conservation educators in developing effective novel programs that achieve outcomes that surpass their goals and expectations.
The 2021 CEWHALL workshop demonstrated that a teleost fish species can provide an innovative and effective educational HAI program experience. The distinct personality of each koi seems to further contribute to the program’s success as individual fish and individual participants appear to naturally align with each other in a way that produces personal and unique experiences that seem to grow the participants’ feelings regarding their ability to have a HAR/HAB with koi which, in turn, seems to produce more impactful outcomes. These amazing animals have shown they can make waves and change youth perceptions about fish in as little as one fifteen-minute interaction. That is a powerful educational human-animal interaction and a powerful conservation education animal partner indeed.
The authors wish to thank the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, Robert Morris University, Robert Morris University’s Center for Innovation and Outreach, and the generous sponsors and donors that made the 2021 workshop possible. Thank you to Joe Gaspard III, Ph.D. for his support and facilitation of the 2017 study and the 2021 Workshop, and special thanks and all photo credits to Paul Selvaggio. Much appreciation and heartfelt gratitude to all Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium Aquarists, especially: Justine Curley, Shanna Gay, Paige Baldwin, and Nicole Gioia.
Animal Care/Human Care note: the CEWHALL PRP has Policies and Procedures for animals, HAIs, instructors, volunteers, and participants and follows all SOPs of the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. All koi must be healthy and cleared by the veterinarian to participate in CEWHALL Programs and all humans must be free of any illness or injury that could negatively affect animal or human health, prior to animal interactions.
Corresponding author email address: Michelle Farmerie, mfarmerie@pittsburghzoo.org
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1 Melbourne Zoo - Zoos Victoria, and 2 Wildlife, Conservation & Science - Zoos Victoria, Australia.
Animal encounters are commonly included in zoo-based education programs to help facilitate learning about, and care for, the animals involved. In 2019, Zoos Victoria’s Education team redesigned the delivery of the education animal encounters to better align with the zoo’s Code of Animal Welfare and Ethics. The goal was to prioritise animal care and welfare, while still providing positive student experiences and achieving learning outcomes. The redesigned encounters increase an animal’s choice and control in their environment. Students no longer physically touch the animals and are encouraged to observe the animals’ natural behaviours in order to connect them to animals, deepen their knowledge around the program learning outcomes, and motivate them to act for wildlife. The encounters also highlight the importance of choice and control for animals in supporting positive welfare outcomes. To evaluate these newly redesigned animal encounters, 1004 school students who participated in an encounter with lemurs, meerkats, or otters were surveyed after their experience. The results showed curriculum-based learning outcomes were met with 96% of students demonstrating increased knowledge linked to these outcomes. Students also reported high levels of enjoyment and expressed feeling positive emotions in response to the encounter. Additionally, the results showed students valued the prioritisation of animal welfare with 81% reporting it is important for animals to have choice and control over how close they get to people. This research demonstrates that hands-off animal encounters that prioritise animal welfare, can provide students with engaging and memorable experiences while still meeting learning outcomes.
Zoo-based education programs provide unique opportunities to engage school students in conservation-focused learning experiences. Animal encounters, where students have the chance to have interactions with zoo animals, are a common feature of many zoos visitor and education programs and may involve anything from hands-off observations of animals through to feeding, touching, or holding animals (D’Cruze et al., 2019).
While animal encounters can help foster connections with, and knowledge of, animals (Mann-Lang, 2016; Spooner et al., 2021), there is limited knowledge around what aspects of the encounter are important to achieve these benefits (Learmonth et al., 2021). Positive visitor outcomes may be due to time spent learning about an animal or talking with a zoo staff member (Hacker & Miller, 2016). McLeod & Rawson (2019) found students who participated in a zoo-based animal encounter either with or without a live stick insect present showed the same increased level of care about the protection of the stick insect compared to students who did not have the encounter. Likewise, animal-free zoo performances can be as effective at increasing visitors’ animal knowledge (Spooner et al., 2019). This suggests that including close proximity or contact with animals may not always be essential for creating memorable and educational experiences for students.
Animal encounters can also risk compromising the welfare of the animals involved. Whilst some studies suggest that encounters may have a neutral impact (Baird et al., 2016; Webster et al., 2017) or the potential for a positive impact (Miller et al., 2011), others have documented the negative impacts that visitor encounters can have on animal welfare (Sherwen & Hemsworth, 2019; Gresham et al., 2022; van Heerbeek et al., 2022). Visitor interactions may also affect individual animals differently (Stoinski et al., 2012), demonstrating the complexity of the challenge to meet positive animal welfare in visitor and student encounters. Around the world, zoo and aquarium associations have demonstrated a commitment to supporting positive animal welfare for all animals, including those which participate in visitor encounters (ZAA, 2018; BIAZA, 2019; WAZA, 2020). As zoos continue to strive for improving animal welfare and meeting educational objectives, the needs of both students and animals require equal and informed consideration. At Zoos Victoria, Australia, education programs are delivered to over 150,000 school (4-18 years of age) and tertiary (above 18 years of age) students every year. These programs align with the Victorian state school curriculum and generally include an animal encounter. In the past, these encounters typically involved a zoo educator removing an animal from its enclosure, bringing it into the zoo classroom, and giving students the chance to touch them in the context of the program. In 2018, Zoos Victoria implemented a new Code of Animal Welfare and Ethics which led to a review and re-design of all animal encounters to ensure that they prioritised the animals’ agency over their level of participation in the encounter - an important component of ensuring positive welfare outcomes (Kagan et al., 2015; Mellor et al., 2020). In this format the animals are able to opt in or out of an encounter and are in control of the level of interaction they have with students. Each updated encounter provides animals with the opportunity to engage in natural behaviours that benefit the animal and provides a point of interest for the students to observe. In addition to ensuring positive animal welfare, these encounters are designed to provide students with positive experiences that connect them to animals, highlight the importance of good animal welfare practices, achieve program learning outcomes, and motivate them to act for wildlife.
In this study, we investigated the ability of three revised animal encounters to provide positive student experiences and meet the learning outcomes of the education programs. Specifically, this research aimed to assess students’ perceptions of their encounter experience, what they learnt from their experience, their understanding of actions to help wildlife, and their perceptions of animal welfare.
Between April to June 2022, 1004 school students who participated in one of three education programs at Melbourne Zoo (one of Zoos Victoria’s properties), completed a paper-based survey at the end of the program. Students ranged from year 5 to 8 (approximately aged 10 to 16 years).
The survey used quantitative and qualitative questions to assess: student experience, learning outcomes, knowledge of actions to help wildlife, and animal welfare perceptions. Qualitative responses were thematically coded.
Three different education programs that involved an animal encounter experience with ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta), Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus), or meerkats (Suricata suricatta) were assessed. While these encounters vary somewhat (Figure 1), they are all handsoff, observation-based experiences which are used to facilitate discussion of the education program’s learning objectives. Both the programs and animal encounters rate highly on Zoos Victoria’s new education animal encounter standards and animal welfare criteria.
There were no significant statistical differences in student responses from the different animal encounters. As such, while data is presented for each of the encounters, the results were analysed, and will be discussed, as one dataset.
Students reported high levels of enjoyment with 79% saying they more than moderately enjoyed their animal encounter experience. When rating how strongly they felt during the animal encounter, 70% reported experiencing moderate to strong feelings (Table 1). When students were asked to describe the feelings they experienced, the most common responses were positive emotions (67%) followed by feelings of curiosity and awe (13%, Table 2).
Table 1. Responses given by students regarding their experience. When asked about how strongly they felt when they met the encounter animal, responses were recorded on a 5- point Likert scale where 1 = no feeling at all, 3 = some feeling, 5 = strong feeling. When asked how much they enjoyed their experiences, the 5- point response options were 1 = didn’t enjoy, 3 = moderately enjoyed, 5 = really enjoyed.
Think about how you felt when you met the [encounter animal] today. Rank how strongly you felt.
How much did you enjoy your experience in the [encounter animal] exhibit today?
Table 1: Responses given by students regarding their experience. When asked about how strongly they felt when they met the encounter animal, responses were recorded on a 5-point Likert scale where 1 = no feeling at all, 3 = some feeling, 5 = strong feeling. When asked how much they enjoyed their experiences, the 5-point response options were 1 = didn’t enjoy, 3 = moderately enjoyed, 5 = really enjoyed.
Positive emotions
Feelings of happiness, excitement, amazement, or joy
"Happy, they're so CUTE!" "Good, I was thrilled"
"I felt really amazing"
"I felt completely filled with joy"
579 67.7%
Curiosity
Feelings of interest, awe, wonder, or surprise
"They are so interesting" "Wow"
"I felt surprised because I thought they were bigger"
98 13.1%
Animal appreciation or observation
Admires or appreciates the animal and/or it’s behaviour
"Cuteness! They were so cute trying to find the food inside the enrichment" "They are energetic and interesting" "Cool, lemurs are cool"
92 10.5%
Reflective and relaxed
Feelings of calm and general care of animals
"I remembered that I love animals" "I felt calm and relaxed" “Grateful for the opportunity to learn about them”
Table 2: The common themes and illustrative quotes describing how the student’s felt when they met the encounter animals. Only themes with more than 3% of responses are shown. N = 855.
The majority of students (88%) reported that they had learnt a little bit to a lot during their experience (asked on 5-point scale where 1= learnt nothing, 3 = learnt a little bit, 5 = learnt a lot). When asked to write down one thing they had learnt, nearly all students (96%, Table 3) provided information related to the key learning objectives of the education program (e.g., behavioural or structural adaptations of the animal).
Table
“They have 2 different tongues” “One meerkat watches out for predators. They take shifts” “Lemurs have stripy tails so that they can wrap it around themselves to disrupt their silhouette”
Human impacts on animals (threats to animal, conservation status)
“Deforestation and natural predators are detrimental threats to the lemur populations” “They are critically endangered because of humans and what we do”
Diseases animals can get
can catch covid and the flu”
can catch human viruses”
haven't got vaccinated”
Table 3: The common themes and illustrative quotes describing one thing students reported learning about the encounter animal during their experience. Only themes with more than 3% of responses are shown. N = 981.
Just over half of students (53%) reported that their experience made them more likely to do something to help animals in the wild, while 41% were unsure and 6% said the experience did not make them more likely to act. When asked what is something they could do to help animals in the wild, the most common responses were actions related to reducing rubbish in the environment (30%) and keeping wildlife safe (21%, Table 4). Of the actions they suggested, 55% of students felt it would be easy or very easy to perform the behaviours themselves, while 34% were unsure.
Appropriate rubbish disposal Actions relating to not littering and picking up rubbish
“Don't litter because they might eat the
“Make sure I don't let plastic and rubbish get into the sea”
“I could save them and bring them to the zoo if they are hurt”
Table 4: The common themes and illustrative quotes describing one thing students suggested they could do to help animals out in the wild. Only themes with more than 3% of responses are shown. N = 893.
Two questions were used to assess the students’ perceptions of the encounter animals’ welfare. Over two-thirds (67%) of students believed that the animals in their encounter were able to choose how close they got to visitors and school groups. Additionally, the majority (81%) of students felt it was important for the encounter animals to choose how close they get to people (Table 5).
Could the [encounter animal] choose how close they got to visitors and school groups?
Do you think it is important for the [encounter animal] to choose how close they get?
Table 5: Responses given by students regarding their perception of the encounter animals’ welfare.
Zoo-based education programs can be a powerful way to connect children with wildlife and increase their conservation and animal knowledge (Counsell et al., 2020). While animal encounters and other forms of animal-visitor interactions can be one of the ways to achieve these outcomes, depending on the nature of the experience, they may risk compromising the welfare of the animal (Sherwen & Hemsworth, 2019). In this study, we assessed the ability of Zoos Victoria’s newly developed, welfare-focused animal encounters to deliver key learning outcomes and provide students with enjoyable experiences. In each encounter (Table 1) there was no physical contact with the animals, and the level of proximity between the students and the animals was no different than that of general visitors to the Zoo. We found that participating in these encounters provided meaningful educational experiences for students which meet program learning outcomes and provided inspiration and motivation for students to act for wildlife. They also provide opportunities to increase student understanding of the importance of providing choice and control to animals to support positive welfare outcomes.
Positive emotional responses to viewing zoo animals can help visitors form a connection to wildlife, increase empathy towards animals, and encourage pro-conservation behaviour (Myers et al., 2004; Luebke, 2018). When viewing the animals, most students reported experiencing a moderate to strong positive emotional reaction (e.g., “They look adorable, I felt overjoyed”) or feelings of curiosity, awe, and surprise (e.g., “I felt very interested in them”). When visitors feel they have had some form of close experience or interaction with an animal in a general enclosure, they are more likely to report positive experiences and feel connected to that animal (Powell & Bullock, 2014; Howell et al., 2019). Facilitating the students’ observations of the animals interacting with the provided enrichment during the encounter may help to foster this sense of connection with the animals and create a positive experience. The responses demonstrate that these encounters are still providing opportunities for students to observe the animals in a way that allows them to have a strong, positive emotional reaction.
As Zoos Victoria’s educational programs are designed to align with specific state curriculum, it is very important to both educators and the school teachers that the learning outcomes are met. The results from this study show that most students felt they learnt new things during the program and, when asked to report something they learnt, the vast majority of the responses detailed information directly related to the program’s learning outcomes. This encouraging result suggests that these programs are succeeding in meeting their key learning objectives.
Educational programs also provide opportunities for zoos to highlight the importance of animal welfare and demonstrate their commitment to it by ensuring animals experience agency during the experiences. In this study, most students believed it was important for the animals to be able to decide how close they got to visitors, and felt that the animals they saw were able to make this choice. The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Education Strategy recommends that zoos and aquariums review visitor-animal interactions offered and achieve conservation education outcomes while also supporting positive animal welfare states (Thomas, 2020). This study’s findings emphasise that alongside educational outcomes, welfare-focused encounters can provide students with an opportunity to consider the importance of positive animal welfare and how animals are cared for in zoos.
Interestingly, there were no significant differences in the effectiveness of the three animal encounters despite the differences between the experiences. All three encounters were successful in providing students with positive experiences that supported their learning, knowledge, and motivation to act for wildlife. Beyond having the chance to observe the animals, it may be the presence of zoo educators, who facilitate the programs, which play an integral part in creating positive learning experiences. Previous research has shown that visitors who interact with zoo staff about the animals they are viewing are more likely to report more positive attitudes towards animals, increased conservation knowledge, and greater engagement in conservation behaviours (Hacker & Miller, 2016; Litchfield et al., 2018; Major & Smith, 2023). These findings suggest that with careful planning, a diversity of animal encounters can meet the needs of students, as well as facilitate positive animal welfare outcomes.
There are limitations to this study that should be noted. The focus of this research was to assess if program learning outcomes were met, however students were only surveyed after their experience and shifts in knowledge were not explicitly tested. While students were asked to identify things they had learnt during their encounters, to attempt to address this limitation, it is possible that their answers were informed by prior knowledge. The large sample size of this study allows for more confidence in the findings, however future research could conduct pre- and post- encounter evaluations to measure shifts in knowledge. Additionally, all of the encounters involved mammals which may limit how generalizable these findings are. Future evaluation of welfare-focused encounters could examine experiences that involve a range of taxa.
Animal encounters are a common feature of many zoo-based education programs and can be used to enhance the education experience. However, in situations where the animal has limited agency over the experience, these encounters can compromise the welfare of the animals involved. This study found that students who participated in welfare-focused encounters, where they had no physical contact with the animals and instead observed them in their enclosures, reported positive emotional responses, an increase in animal knowledge, and an understanding of the importance of providing animals with choice and control over their interactions with people. These findings demonstrate that welfare-focused encounters are able to provide positive experiences for students and achieve the learning outcomes of the program.
The authors would like to acknowledge that this research was conducted on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and pay our respects to Wurundjeri Elders past and present. We recognise the ongoing care and connection that Traditional Owners have to Country. We would like to thank the Melbourne Zoo educators for all their assistance with collecting survey responses from students and for all of the work they do to connect students with nature.
Corresponding author email address: Claire Priestley, cpriestley@zoo.org.au
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Brawin Kumar, Abinesh Muthaiyan, Deepika Brawin Kumar, Mohammed Shahidh and Mohammed Thanvir
Living In Fine Environment Trust, Tamil Nadu, India.
South India has a rich biodiversity with over 16,187 species of both flora and fauna, of which more than 325 are globally threatened, 129 are vulnerable, 145 are endangered, and 51 have critically endangered status. Lack of awareness, myths and misunderstandings are a barrier to the community’s understanding of species extinction. Living in Fine Environment Trust India collaborated with Elvira Conservation Initiative, Hedgehog Conservation Alliance, and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to work on species like Madras hedgehogs (Parachinus nudiventris) and Indian pangolins (Manis crassicaudata). Presenting a conservation message to people who have shared their habitats for generations was not an easy task. Using the traditional but vanishing shadow puppetry art, conservation messages were propagated in 17 rural villages and 14 schools in Tamil Nadu. Schools and villages were prioritised based on the presence or recently sighted status of the endemic, endangered, or threatened species.
Fun-filled activities included colouring for kindergarten students and wildlife posters for schools and villages. A general wildlife conservation awareness program was conducted in 21 schools, most of which are in rural areas of protected forest in Salem, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Erode Districts of Tamil Nadu. At the end of each program, students made a pledge to save wildlife and were given complementary items like stationery, comic books, and pangolin and hedgehog stickers. A questionnaire survey consisting of pre-assessment and post-assessment was conducted with 864 students from 16 villages. The results show that students gained more knowledge about pangolins, hedgehogs, and other animals.
India is renowned for its incredible biodiversity, encompassing a vast array of ecosystems and species. With its varied landscapes, ranging from the Himalayan mountain ranges to the coastal plains and dense tropical forests, India supports a rich and diverse array of flora and fauna. According to a study by Myers et al. (2000), India is one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, housing around 7-8% of the world's recorded species. The country is home to several biodiversity hotspots, including the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas, as recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention (UNESCO, 2012). India's biodiversity is characterised by a high level of endemism, with many species found exclusively within its borders. The rich biodiversity of India underscores the need for robust conservation efforts to preserve and protect its natural heritage for future generations.
South India has rich biodiversity with over 16,187 species of both flora and fauna with more than 325 being globally threatened species, 129 vulnerable, 145 endangered, and 51 species which are critically endangered (UNESCO, 2012). Attention and awareness towards species’ conservation will not be successful unless the people and communities living with them participate. Lack of awareness, myths, and misunderstandings act as a barrier to
people comprehending the magnitude and significance of species going extinct (Molur et al., 2005; Karanth et al., 2010; Kumar et al., 2020). Through effective conservation education initiatives, India can ensure that future generations are equipped with the knowledge and values necessary to protect and sustain its remarkable biodiversity for years to come. Living in Fine Environment (LIFE) Trust India, a non-government organisation, collaborated with Elvira Conservation Initiative (ECI) and Hedgehog Conservation Alliance (HCA) to work on conserving species which are threatened and near extinction in Indian landscapes. They work extensively on elusive species like Madras hedgehogs (Parachinus nudiventris) and Indian pangolins (Manis crassicaudata). As a part of their work, they believe outreach has a huge potential to create impact and provide space in the hearts of young minds and their families to know what exactly the terms conservation, species extinction, habitat loss, and deforestation mean. Providing students at lower and middle grades in rural villages with an opportunity to learn ‘wildlife conservation’ and ‘the stories from wild’ fascinates the students beyond anything they have learned in traditional classroom discussions.
The biodiversity awareness programs were conducted in 36 schools of which most are in rural areas of protected forest in Salem, Kanya Kumari, Tirunelveli, and Erode (South India). In addition, a series of special programs on Indian pangolin conservation was carried out in government schools of Shervarayan Hills, Salem, in Tamil Nadu, India (Figure 1). Presenting the conservation message to people and children who have shared their habitat with wild animals for generations was not an easy task. By sharing their habitat, these communities have a different understanding of pangolins, hedgehogs, and other animals than a researcher trying to study them. Utilising engaging activities such as games, one-to-one questions, cartoon drawings, puzzle activity, quizzes, storytelling, assessments, and drawings allow students from diverse communities all over Tamil Nadu to make connections with the target species and keep them engaged throughout the program (Figure 2).
Another method of connecting audiences to wildlife was studied, which was using the ancient traditional art of shadow puppetry (Figure 3). A wildlife theme is scripted and meant to revolve around those endangered or threatened species and making the people realise “How important those species are in our ecosystem!”. Pre- and post-assessment evaluation was conducted before and after both the shadow puppetry show in villages and the awareness program in schools.
To increase the awareness program’s effectiveness, we collaborated with professors, management committees in universities, and government school headmasters including those of primary, elementary, and middle grades in both rural and remote areas of protected forest and urban cities in the following districts: Salem, Erode, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari, and Coimbatore. From December 2021 to December 2022, the conservation awareness program was performed in 32 government schools and 2 colleges covering more than 1,600 students of both different ages and cultural backgrounds.
Students enjoyed several posters depicting threatened species of the Eastern Ghats such as the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), slender loris (Loris lydekkarianus), several species of rat including the endemic Elvira rat (Cremnomys elvira), wild gaur (Bos gaurus), Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), small Indian civet (Viverricula indica), shrews, Madras hedgehogs, Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica), Indian pangolin, antelopes and other local endemic species. Every image brought students’ curiosity forward. Interestingly, some students have heard more about those animals either by direct personal experience or indirectly through their parents. Students from pastoral tribes have immense experience in identifying local fauna. Since they spend most of their time in grazing livestock, they witness first-hand most of the wild creatures at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, however, most of the students from urban areas had failed to guess or recognise the animals which were displayed. Most of the students lack knowledge about their local fauna, but a few students held excellent knowledge of some wild creatures.
Interacting with students and young minds is an inevitable part of the journey for conservation educators to know their thoughts and understandings about wildlife. By asking students to share about the species which had become extinct in the last 100 years, we narrowed certain questions down from fellow students like “Why do animals go extinct? We were able to discuss alarming trends that animals experience today and lead to species’ extinction including several anthropogenic factors like climate change, increasing sea water level, environmental degradation like air, water, and soil pollution, deforestation, and mismanagement of plastics in ecosystems (Earth.Org, 2023). After knowing the threats of which the native species face, the concern towards tiny elusive creatures has increased among those students, and they further draw attention towards wildlife conservation techniques and ethics. Specifically, Madras hedgehogs and Indian pangolins are the most vulnerable and threatened mammals in their respective habitats. After a detailed study on Madras hedgehogs conducted by Dr Brawin Kumar in various landscapes in Tamil Nadu, the results revealed that population and distribution status of the hedgehog has declined to the
Figure 3: Awe-struck audience embraces the wildlife awareness story via traditional puppetry art (photo credit: Mr Abinesh Muthaiyan).smallest levels since being recorded in earliest decades (Kumar, 2018). Currently, the Madras hedgehog is listed under Schedule II of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1974.
Detailed explanation about the Madras hedgehog life history was given to students in various rural villages in Tamil Nadu. Topics included: their evolution over millions of years, comparison to other hedgehog species, feeding behaviour, mobility, rolling mechanisms, quill adaptations, and mythical medicinal values which hinders their survival. Lack of knowledge about Madras hedgehogs makes them more vulnerable. People living around hedgehog habitats still follow the myths about them and without knowing the current evidence which proves their body parts have no known medicinal value and the Madras hedgehogs will continue to be endangered.
Themed activities connect and engage the students. Colouring sheets were distributed to each group consisting of 3-5 students. They colour cartoon characters of Indian pangolins and Madras hedgehogs while learning the facts of respective species given below in Tamil language.
‘Dancing in the forest’ is another activity which emphasises the concept of forest fragmentation and its effects. A whole newspaper represented a pristine forest, and it was set on the stage. In the first round, 3-5 students were brought on stage, told to act as a favourite animal, and then to dance on the paper (Figure 4). After the second round, it was torn in half and students were to dance again. Now students face difficulty in merely standing on the pieces of newspaper. Educators then explained this is how forest fragmentation will lead the species to fight for food and mate, while some migrate to urban and rural areas. Migration will become more frequent and can lead to increased human-wildlife conflicts. At the end of the activities, students have the knowledge to understand the concept of wilderness much easier.
Tholpaavaikoothu, literally translates into skin-doll-drama (thol: skin, paavai: doll, koothu: drama). The first ancient mention of this art was cited in the literature of ‘Thirukural’ around 300CE (Sankar et al., 2021). The storytelling art creates realistic drama by shadow puppetry (Figure 5). It is performed by using flattened leather puppets, usually made up of goat skin but earlier deer skin was also used. The seasoned leather was painted with vegetable dyes and natural colours, then crafted and personified as per the story written by “Pulavar” or modified from it. The “Pulavar” was an honorary title given to a scholar who mastered the art of Tholpavaaikoothu by learning it from their guru, teacher, or father. It takes more than 10 years to master, and after, they possess deep knowledge about the art, classical music, tales, Vedas, Puranas, and Ayurvedas
in languages like Tamil, Malayalam, and Sanskrit. The puppeteers will perform for a period of anywhere between 15 days to one month conducting the programme in a periodic manner with breaks and intermissions. It was performed in temples, on street corners, at village functions and other occasional events. The performances began at dusk and continued till dawn. Nowadays, due to the vast growth of smartphones, cinema, and entertainment industries people have turned their preference from static shadow puppetry screens to live screens and because of this, several arts including Tholpaavaikoothu have lost their market and popularity. As a result, the artists have no chance to perform or organise such an event to maintain their livelihoods and have started moving to different jobs. Now, only a few families in Tamil Nadu and Kerala perform the art.
This ancient traditional art which could not compete with modern entertainment stands for biodiversity and conservation awareness in Eastern Ghats. With cooperation from the authorities of Tamil Nadu government forest department, wildlife volunteers, and local authorities, we emphasised wildlife conservation messaging through Tholpaavaikoothu which had a massive impact among the people and students in and around Shervaroyan Hills in Salem, Eastern Ghats. Mr. Velan, one of the few performers of Tholpaavaikoothu was trained to incorporate conservation messages of the ecological importance of targeted species into the puppetry performance. Priority to conduct the puppetry performance was given to 34 rural villages and 36 schools in Tamil Nadu based on the presence or recent sightings of endemic, endangered, or threatened species living in proximity to them including those Madras hedgehogs, Indian pangolins, Gooty tarantulas (Poecilotheria metallica) and Indian elephants (Elephas maximus indicus). The performance’s theme was wildlife conservation measures, mitigation of wild trade, and effects of species extinction.
To assess the knowledge gained by audience members, pre- and post-assessment evaluations were conducted at both the school awareness programs and shadow puppetry performances. A total of 15 semi-structured questions were prepared with a maximum of 15 marks (1 mark for each correct answer). Questions assessed information gained including knowledge of the species, their habitat, adaptations, behaviour, conservation status, and threats. A total of 1,176 students from various schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu completed the questionnaire sheets. The same evaluation procedure was followed for people who watched the Tholpaavaikoothu performance. Completed assessment sheets were corrected and entered in a Microsoft Excel sheet after the visit to school, college, or village.
Comparing pre- and post-assessment results show that students gained knowledge about Indian pangolins, Madras hedgehogs, and other animals that we focused on. The aggregate correct scores almost doubled in post-assessment (6,983) when compared to pre-assessment (3,731) (Figure 6). Specifically, there was improvement in all but one knowledge question post-assessment for the Indian Pangolin Awareness sessions conducted in the Shervaroyan Hills of Salem, India (Figure 7).
Major feedback from the community was that they remembered the conservation theme ‘Save wildlife’ which was played in Tholpaavikoothu when they saw a pangolin, Madras hedgehog or slender loris on their farmland. At the end of each program, participants pledged to save wildlife. Tokens like erasers, sharpeners, notebooks, comic books, pencils and sketches, wildlife stickers, wildlife fact sheets, geometry box, and other stationery were presented to students at the end of each program. The survey responses certainly give a bigger picture of student perception about wildlife and conservation. After the show, villagers and students are invited to share their experience with those wild creatures. Transformation occurs when they realise “How kind those species are!” they became overwhelmed when they came to know “How subtle those species contribute to our ecosystem!”.
The use of traditional South Indian shadow puppetry art in general biodiversity and specific Indian Pangolin Awareness sessions has had a significant impact on local communities, particularly students. These sessions aimed to raise awareness about conservation, preserve cultural heritage, and inspire action to protect endangered species and their habitats. The incorporation of interactive elements and active learning teaching tools resulted in an impactful conservation outreach in the Eastern Ghats region of Tamil Nadu, India.
We sincerely thank the Tamil Nadu Education Department for their invaluable support in coordinating with schools in Tamil Nadu. Special thanks to Mr. Krishnamoorthy for facilitating communication with headmasters and enabling effective outreach in Yercaud, Salem. Our deep appreciation goes to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department for granting permission and providing unwavering support, allowing us to make a significant impact across more schools. We acknowledge the contributions various volunteers and village people gave to support carrying out the programs. We are grateful to all individuals, including B.A. Daniel from LIFE Trust India, Coimbatore, India for the ideas and execution and ZOO Outreach Organisation for their Indian Pangolin awareness posters. Lastly, we extend our gratitude to the CSR fund from Taneja Aircraft and Aviation Limited (TAAL Tech), India, for their financial assistance (CSR) in implementing our initiatives.
Corresponding author email address: Mr. R. Brawin Kumar, brawinkumarwildlife@gmail.com
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