Community News – Selinda Reserve, Botswana
June 2014 COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The Great Plains Conservation team took to the road this June when they visited Gudigwa primary school for their annual Conservation Ambassador Workshop. This year’s workshop deliberately focused on the subject of natural resources. It seemed an essential subject to discuss in order to create awareness of the day-to-day usage of their natural resources, and to empower the students with the capability to differentiate between renewable and non-renewable resources, and how these form part of their daily lives.
The intention of the Outreach Team is to encourage these “future adults” to develop habits and skills that will allow them to make sustainable decisions in their lives, now and in the future. The weekend workshop began with an introduction of the topic, clearly defining what natural resources are, and how they affect/are affected by their immediate community. It was equally important to identify these resources within the context of the village of Gudigwa.
Our young conservation ambassadors were quick to understand the relationship between their natural resources and their basic needs, in that without these resources, our basic needs for water, food, shelter and air, would not be met.
The distinction between renewable and non-renewable resources had to be emphasized, as they both determine the future of their environment, as well as their own lives and those of future generations.
Our ambassadors had never made the distinction between renewable and non-renewable resources and thus were unaware that the impact of rapidly reducing these resources would have a devastating impact on their and their children’s future.
Our lessons on renewable and non-renewable resources consisted of identifying and describing the processes involved in making our day-to-day items such as, paper, tins and plastic. The students understood these processes and that most of the items that they use on a daily basis, derive from natural resources. The Outreach Team educated them on the fact that when it comes to non-renewable resources, we must collectively conserve them for as long as possible. This conversation led to lesson on Recycling, Reducing and Reusing waste (the 3’R) – a subject that was taught at one of our year-end camps to the ambassadors. It was important to make the connection between the 3 R’s, and the Conservation of natural resources. It was highlighted to the students that they could already be practicing these conservation exercises without even knowing. For instance, many of them re-use plastic bottles when they go to their cattle posts (cattle farms) to store milk in. Another means of conserving natural resources that was discussed is that of reducing the amounts of fire wood used in each household. The entire group agreed that it would be better to use dead trees, or those that have fallen over (pushed over by the elephants in the area when feeding), again depicting the inter-dependence of all things in the environment. A lot of time was spent making sure that all understood the issue of deforestation, as it affects them and their immediate environment. All of the households in Gudigwa, as well as the Primary School, depend on wood for fire, to cook, and to heat water for bathing, so it was essential for the students to realise the impact that they were making within this environment, and that they can make a significant change by reducing the amount of trees used.
Apart from the class lessons, the students conducted some field research in various areas around the school identifying renewable and non–renewable resources. The class was split into groups that conducted investigations in various areas around the school. They did a fantastic job of identifying the different resources, and describing the health of each area. The outreach team took this opportunity to discuss the recent killings of Vultures within the Gudigwa area. It was important to address the danger and impact that killing these scavengers have on the environment. Each group gave presentations on the importance of not killing these creatures, and that it has the potential of devastating their natural environment. In order to drive the message through further, the outreach team explained the devastation that the poison used could cause not only to the lives of the wild animals in their area, but also to them as people.
The workshop ended on a high note, with amazing positive energy from both students and teachers. The outreach team intends on continuing on their mission to enlighten the conservation ambassadors of Guidgwa Village, and to encourage them to come up with creative ways of conserving their natural resources, for themselves and future generations.
