Our Environmental Education Programme is known as ‘Echo’ for the resonance it has across people’s lives. Environmental Education is key to engaging communities in the issues and debates around their everyday choices and the impact that they have for the environment and conservation. Most often we find that the communities living closest to some of the world’s most renowned conservation areas, know the least about them and their value. Echo aims to change that by exposing community members, young and old, to the conservation land and seascapes that they are in fact, the custodians of, and working with communities to ensure that they feel the benefit of protecting the environment around them.
In our partner communities in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya, the Echo programme has become embedded into the school curriculum for Grade R to Grade 9 scholars (through primary and into early secondary school) across 137 schools. Our Echo school facilitators support the delivery of environmental education lessons and practical workshops in schools as well as the development of climate friendly school vegetable gardens. School facilitation is through Echo Stewards in South Africa and Community & Conservation Rangers in East Africa. Anchoring this process, we are continuously developing tailor made curriculum aligned Echo education manuals providing resources for pre-primary to early secondary school scholars which reflect the local community context.
The programme outcome is that 60% Grade 7 and Grade 11 scholars in partner communities support local conservation efforts and understand climate change.