Biodiversity, elephant and environment awareness program in rural
schools
A Schools Awareness Program has been carried out for the past seven
years with sessions held in 150 rural schools each year. The
Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust carries out this program in
the rural districts of Sri Lanka, where there are incidents of
human-elephant conflict.
A section of the school children at the workshop. |
Initially the only objective of this program was to teach the
children living in the areas where there are human-elephant conflicts,
all about the elephant; its value, their ecology, biology and
physiology. The program also covered the elephant's role in the religion
and culture of this country.
Managing Trustee of The Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust
Jayantha Jayewardene said that, on an average 65 humans and125 elephants
are killed each year due to the human-elephant conflicts that are
prevalent in many parts of the country. He said that only a few
elephants cause damage to crops and houses, and cause human fatalities.
This program seeks to make as many children affected by these conflicts
aware of the need to conserve elephants for the future as part of their
and the world's heritage. However before we get them into the
conservation loop we need give them a full understanding of the
elephant, its habits etc. he added.
The program carried out in each school includes a lecture on the
biodiversity of Sri Lanka, a lecture on the elephant and its
conservation and an address by the local Wildlife Department official
when available. The lectures are supplemented by multi-media visuals. A
question and answer session is followed up with a discussion. On an
average 75 children and 7 teachers attend each session, which lasts over
three hours. A presentation of books to the school library is made.
The Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust has published two
books on Sri Lanka's Biodiversity and another on Sri Lanka's Natural
Environment. This has been made possible with the assistance of the
European Union.
Jayewardene added that with the knowledge that is imparted to the
children, they will have a better understanding and appreciation of the
problem of human-elephant conflicts and know in greater detail about the
natural and socio-cultural history of the elephants. This will reduce
the negative attitude towards the elephant by the local communities,
especially among the younger generations so that they can then be
persuaded to take a more positive role in the conservation of elephants.
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