Ecological Education at Schools and Eco-Centres

Ecological education in Khasan district

For more than ten years, Phoenix has been cooperating with Natalia Drobisheva, a school teacher and ecological leader, on our leopard education and outreach project. On a regular basis Natalia delivers eco-lessons and slide-presentations at schools in Slavyanka town and villages of the Khasan district. This very district is the habitat of the last remaining Amur leopards. A ten-person “Rodnichok” children’s team, founded by Natalia, visits rural schools and frontier posts with performances on leopard conservation. In 2007, a room was allocated at school No.1 in Slavyanka and fitted with all necessary equipment. It serves as a resource center for teachers and a place for the team’s rehearsals.

 

Ecological education in Pozharsky district

In 2003 we found friends in Luchegorsk town of the Pozharsky district – a social-ecological NGO “Pervotsvet”. Its aim is to unite activists for resolution of burning social and ecological issues, to promote the idea of volunteerism, coordinate citizens’ initiatives in the district, and work together with other NGOs. Children of “Pervotsvet” club are taught the basics of journalism and make a monthly TV program, “Color Windows”, on Luchegorsky and Primorsky television. They also work to make their town more beautiful, participate in local and regional conferences and visit the annual eco-camp at Solyonaya Pad Lake. In the context of the joint eco-educational project with Phoenix, educators Margarita Tsvetkova, Nadezhda Perevozchikova and Alla Akatkina conduct eco-lessons on different topics. Schoolchildren check their knowledge through quizzes and brain-rings.

 

Ecological Education in Lazovsky district

In 2007, we started supporting ecological education at Lazovsky Nature Reserve. Ecological Department specialists established systematic work with schools, kindergartens, and people of the district. Among their innovations are binary lessons, where teachers of two adjoining disciplines lead the lesson together. Educators Galina Dikalyuk, Olga Degtyarenko and Olga Khokhryakova developed a large number of ecological games, holiday scenarios, training programs for pre-schoolers and children of primary school. “Ecological teams” consisting of teachers and club members are sent to district schools. With the help of traveling exhibitions, discussions, theatre performances, film screenings and games, schoolchildren and teaching staff of village schools become familiar with ecological education. Not only theoretical knowledge is involved; pupils also plant trees, make and set up birdfeeders, and collect rubbish. There is a Nature Museum at the Reserve that offers various guided tours of its collections and special exhibitions.

 

Ecological education in Kirovsky district

Since 2007 Phoenix has been supporting the educational activity of Galina Goy, a teacher from technical school No. 55 in Kirovsky town. Students of 16-17 years old visit the “Ussury” Eco-club, where under the teacher’s guidance, elaborate lessons about the nature of the Primorsky region are created and presented for school and kindergarten children of the town. Such method enables them to accomplish two goals: organize teenagers’ leisure and foster respect and love for nature. Schoolchildren are more receptive to information delivered to them by people a little older than themselves. In addition to lessons, students are involved in practical work: they clean their town, plant trees and feed birds in winter.

 

Ecological education in Partizansky district

In 2006, we started cooperating with “Rostok” NGO from Partizansk town; it was created in 1994 by senior schoolchildren to discuss and solve ecological problems of the town. The sphere of the “Rostok” club activities is wide and includes ecological lessons, town and district school conferences, realization of various nature protection projects, holidays, research expeditions and hikes. For two years, the club leader Lyubov Samchinskaya and coordinator Anna Obukhova have been giving “tiger” lessons at schools and kindergartens in Partizansk and in adjacent villages.

 

Ecological education in Krasnoarmeisky district

Since 2003, the “Namba” eco-centre, founded by Phoenix, has operated in Novopokrovka town. Teachers Elena Golobokova and Valeria Nazarova are devoted enthusiasts with a creative approach to each lesson. Every year more and more children are covered by ecological education and outreach classes, which focus on tigers and leopards. They organize celebrations, participate in painting contests, make birdhouses, go on excursions, take part in “zoological races” and “cabbage chats”, and even learn Russian “with” tiger! Our coordinators meet with rural teachers and share their developments, as well as films and literature from their rich collection. The community welcomed the club’s work, and “Sikhote-Alin” local paper allots a monthly page to cover their activities.

 

Ecological education in Terneisky district

In 2005, we established ties with the “Uragus” ecological NGO of Terney town, led by Galina Maksimova who devoted the greater of her life to teaching children Biology and Ecology. Terney is a strategically important place for tiger education. Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve is located in the district. The Russian-American Amur tiger conservation project has been running there for 15 years. Since very beginning, “Uragus” started collaborating with scientists in education and outreach among the youth, inviting them to lessons and holidays, such as Tiger Day. Schoolchildren take care of a wonderful garden in the club’s yard, go hiking to picturesque corners and have visits with performances by their peers from villages, at times very remote ones. A tiger poster on the wall of Terney school appeals for people to save it.

 

Ecological education in the south of Khabarovsky region

The south of Khabarovsky krai includes a part of Amur tiger habitat, and over many years Phoenix supported the Khabarovsky team of Inspection Tiger. Besides anti-poaching work, the team members also visited rural schools and told children about the importance of nature conservation. In 2007, Phoenix established contacts with the school of Bichevaya village. A tiger conservation banner was placed on the school wall. Since 2010 we have been closely coopering with Education Department of Anyuisky National Park and have been carrying out a series of educational events.

 

Ecological education in Vladivostok

Since the second half of 2007, Alexander Vrisch, Phoenix educational programs coordinator, has held eco-classes for schoolchildren of the 1^st -11^th grades (7-17 years old) at the college of the Far Eastern National University (DVGU). In the course of them, he used slide-presentations about the tiger and other rare animals of Primorye, and has spoken about tiger subspecies, habitat, distribution, food chains etc. Moreover, schoolteachers often invite Alexander to give lectures on wildlife at schools.