Why a series of cartoons?

More than 40 percent of the Earth's surface is used for agriculture. This places a large responsibility on farmers and their families to protect the precious resources on which they depend. One of the best ways to learn good agricultural practices is in the classroom itself. FAO is preparing a series of booklets and teacher's guides on Agriculture Practices, Biodiversity and Environmental Education. To date, four booklets have been produced, each covering a particular agro-ecological zone. Two more booklets are currently under production.

The purpose of the booklets is to explain to secondary school students the links between the environment and the agropastoral practices used by farming families and communities. The booklets will teach them how nature works, what their local natural resources are and how these resources can be used in a sustainable manner. In this way, the booklets will encourage young people to appreciate their environment and become responsible for it by protecting and improving the productivity of their land and sharing what they learn within their communities.

  What are the cartoons like?

The booklets are in a "comic book" format to make learning and teaching easier and more engaging. Each chapter includes a series of exercises and activities designed to stimulate the students' imaginations and to record their own experiences and what they have learned from the chapter. The booklets are produced in international languages(for example, Arabic, French, English) and contain illustrations of local landscapes, animals and vegetation. Local teachers and sociologists have helped to provide appropriate descriptions of people's physical features, dress, housing and social behaviour.

  How were the cartoons prepared and tested?

All of the booklets have been prepared by a team of scientists and education and communications experts. In order to tailor the books to local cultures, the team used local source material and studied curricula for science and environmental education to understand local teaching habits and methods.

With the collaboration of ministries of education, agriculture and the environment in selected countries, the booklets have been field tested. Teachers and students in village schools have given feedback after a two-month trial period. A network of international experts has also provided feedback throughout the preparation, launching and distribution of the booklets.

Discovering the Natural Resources of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region

Protecting mountains against erosion and managing mountain water are important not only for your survival but also for the survival of the thousands of people in the valleys below. The four "W"s of mountain knowledge are: What can we do to prevent misuse of mountains? Where can we take their resources without causing damage? Who can help us? When will the mountains' natural resources have a rest?

+ plus Teacher's Guide

Pastoral Lifestyle and Use of the Savannah

Communities must be fully involved in managing the savannah's natural resources. Young people and local groups must promote planting of native species, production of forage reserves for the winter, erosion control agriculture and production of safe wild food from grasslands.

Creation and Maintenance of a Wildlife Reserve

Rangelands are useful as grazing areas for wildlife, sheep and camels and for producing energy (people cook using rangeland plants), medicine and fruit. Destroying the plants and the animals of the steppe will increase sandstorms and pollution, and kill the fertility of the soil and the life within it. There is still an opportunity to save remaining wildlife and native plants and trees.

All together for the future of the Sahel

Pastoralists and farmers need to "make a contract" to work together closely so that agriculture and animal production can benefit each other. In addition, the sun-and wind-filled Sahel provides a perfect source of renewable energy without taxing the environment.

• CFAN kid's corner
  
  Forestry Advisers Network (CFAN) of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
  This Web site is intended to give students information on tropical forests. There are references to Asia, the cloud forests of Central America, and the open woodlands of East and Southern Africa.

• EcoKids - Canadian's Environmental Education Program for Youth
  
  This Web site offers topical information about the environment through interactive, fun, educational games and activities that utilize participants' willingness to learn.

• Farm Service Agency Kids
  
  Program coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture. The Web site contains lots of games, activities and information about food and agriculture.

• Rainforest Action - Kid's Corner
  
  This organization works in all over the world Rainforest Action Network (RAN) works to protect the Earth's rainforests and support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots organizing, and nonviolent direct action. Founded in 1985, RAN is a non-profit, member-based organization. RAN accomplishes its mission through dynamic, hard-hitting campaigns that work to bring corporate and governmental policies into alignment with popular support for rainforest conservation.

• Enchanted Learning - Asian Animals Coloring
  Enchanted Learning - African Animals
  Enchanted Learning - Savanna Animal Printouts

• AGROPOLIS Museum - Jeunes publics
  
  Agropolis-Museum est un musée de science et de société, un lieu unique pour découvrir un autre monde à travers l'alimentation et les hommes qui la produisent.

• Le coin des enfants du RCFA
  
  Le réseau des Conseillers Forestiers (RCFA) de l'Agence canadienne de développement international (ACDI).
  Ce site Internet a pour objet de renseigner l'étudiant sur les forêts tropicales, d'expliquer leur importance, de dire comment on peut contribuer à les sauvegarder.

• ENEA (Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente)
  AIAB (Associazione Italiana per l'Agricoltura Biologica)
  Con la collaborazione del Comune di Roma-Assessorato alle Politiche per la Periferia, per lo Sviluppo Locale, per il Lavoro
  
  Percorsi del biologico:
  1 - L'agricoltura biologica
  2 - Le stagioni dei campi
  3 - La zootecnia biologica
  4 - La fertilità del terreno
  5 - La difesa delle piante
  

• EcoPibes para pequeños ambientalistas y educadores
  
  EcoPibes.com es una iniciativa de Red Ambiental, una asociación civil sin fines de lucro que, desde 1999, se encuentra trabajando por el desarrollo sustentable. Creemos verdaderamente que el papel de los niños en la construcción de un futuro mejor es muy importante y es por esto que creamos este sitio: un espacio para la educación, la concientización y la participación.

• Esquina de los niños de la RAFA
  
  La Red de Asesores Forestales (RAFA) de la Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo Internacional (ACDI).
  Esta página Web intenta informar a los estudiantes acerca de los bosques tropicales, su importancia, lo que se puede hacer para salvarlos, y lo que la ACDI ha hecho para ayudar a mejorar la situación.