Teaching the next generation of Filipinos the value of forests and the importance of sustainably managing them
The youth is key to sustainably use and manage forests, especially in the context of a changing climate. Inculcating the value and role of forests in biodiversity, food security, climate, health and well-being should begin early on in the life of a child.
FAO and the Philippines have launched a new initiative this month to teach children about the importance of managing forests sustainably to safeguard natural resources in a changing climate.
Funded by Germany, and using an innovative hands-on approach, the project will develop forest education modules for children aged 9-12 to teach them about the vital relationships between forests and biodiversity, food security, climate, health and wellbeing.
”This project is all about instilling in future generations an understanding of how important forests are for all of us, and the knowledge to manage and protect them in the future,” said Sheila Wertz-Kanounnikoff, FAO Representative ad interim in the Philippines.
Entitled “Forests for a sustainable future: educating children”, the project starts with an inception workshop, a teachers’ focus group discussion and school visit between 13-15 September to gather information for the design of the modules.
Project helps address global ‘disconnect’ from nature`
The project comes amid growing international concern over the quality and availability of forest training and education globally, with countries rarely providing forest education at primary level.
“We hope this project will equip children with an understanding of the benefits of forests as well as a desire to look after them in the future, and that it may even inspire children to join the next generation of foresters,” said FAO Forestry Officer Maria De Cristofaro, who is leading the initiative.
Forestry and education experts will work with local teachers, national education authorities and other key stakeholders to ensure the local relevance of the modules being developed.
With the assistance of the German association for the protection of forests, Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald (SDW), the project will design forest education modules based on an interactive, experiential, forest-based learning approach, with much of the teaching happening outside.
Philippines’ rich biodiversity under threat
The Philippines is one of the world’s richest countries in terms of biodiversity, yet it ranks among the top ten countries with the largest number of species threatened with extinction. Between 1934 and 1990, 10.9 million hectares of forest (over half of the country’s entire cover in 1900) were destroyed for agriculture, unsustainable logging and human settlement. However, since 2010 huge efforts have begun to turn the tide, with forest cover increasing in 2015 to 7.01 million hectares from 6.84 million in 2010.
The forestry sector accounts for 0.2% of GDP and employs 49,000 people directly.
The new children’s forest education project will add to important regulations, policies, acts and guidelines that the Philippines has been putting in place with the aim of ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of its forests.
The Philippines is the second country to partner with FAO to roll out the $1 million project, which first launched in Tanzania in 2019.
At the end of the project, a publication will be developed to guide other countries interested in adapting the forest education modules for use in their own schools, drawing on lessons learned in both Tanzania and the Philippines.