Environmental Education

Over the past decade, Living Earth has developed a number of environmental education and community development projects in Cameroon:

  • 2003 – 2005 Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project (CEESP II)

  • 1999 – 2002 Cameroon Community Forestry Support Project (CFSP)

  • 1998 – 1999 Learning for Life Cameroon Project (LLC)

  • 1996 – 1998 Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project (CEESP I)

Project Background

Prior to commencing the first education project, CEESP I, Living Earth carried out an extensive study and consultation on environmental education (EE) in schools and communities, working under protocol agreements with the Ministry of National Education.

Through this, in accordance with Cameroon’s National Environmental Management Plan and the recommendation of the National Education forum, Living Earth established the Cameroon Environment Support Project (CEESP I); drawing on more than a decade of experience working alongside local communities and schools to produce environmental education (EE) teaching resources.

Project Aim

The project aimed to raise awareness amongst the general public, local communities and decision-makers regarding the need to introduce environmental education in the school system and encourage individuals to consider their impact on the environment, to reduce or cease activities depleting natural resources or threatening biodiversity in the region.

Forests in particular were cited as important due to their value as an economic resource within Cameroon and the increasing exploitation which resulted in greater conflict over its use. The Community Forestry Support Programme was developed with the aim of promoting sustainable foresty management in three provinces; the Littoral, South and South West, using innovative community-driven environmental education.

Project Activities

Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project – Phase 1 (CEESP I)

During the project period, the Living Earth Cameroon team worked used a highly participatory process to produce environmental education materials for schools. The process involved:

  • Baseline surveys to collect local environmental, educational, political, social and economic information. Undertake provincial workshops with teachers and education inspectors to collect information on teaching practices related to environmental education in Cameroonian schools and identify perceived constraints and desired improvements to syllabuses.
  • Facilitating a writing workshop was held in Yaounde with both a UK and a Cameroonian publication team.
  • Production of the final pack consists of a Foundation Unit to environmental education, Curriculum Maps for primary and secondary schools, Teaching Manuals for primary and secondary schools and an Eco-map for the NW, SW and Central provinces in Cameroon.

Learning for Life programme

The project aimed to improve the awareness, understanding and motivation amongst people regarding environmental issues concerning them and assist them to contribute more sustainably towards the management of the country’s natural resources. Activities included:

  • Six workshops held with teachers in the Central, South West and North West provinces of Cameroon during September and October 1998, the aim of which was to gather constructive feedback from teachers with previous experience of environmental education teaching materials produced under CEESP.
  • A writing workshop was held over two days in February 1999, with 12 primary and secondary teachers participating as well as 3 Provincial Education Inspectors and delegates from the Littoral Delegation of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the National Agricultural Extension Programme and Douala University.
  • Early drafts of the materials were circulated to a number of schools with feedback incorporated into revisions.
  • Piloting workshop were held in Douala in April 1999 with 20 participants in attendance. Participants included 4 school inspectors, a representative from PARTNERSHIP, a local non-Government organisation and 15 primary and secondary school teachers.
  • Drawing on its experience in implementing the CEESP project, Living Earth Cameroon worked with teachers, professional designers and artists to produce a suitable booklet and map, the content of which was geared specifically to local flora, fauna and environmental conditions. The booklets were easy to use; teachers participated fully at all stages of development and were provided with appropriate training in their use.
  • Two training and distribution workshops were held in Douala. More distribution and training took place at 9 workshops held in 5 locations across the Littoral Province. A total of 415 teachers received training and the materials were used in 192 primary and 109 secondary schools in Littoral province.

Community Forestry Support Programme

Using participatory techniques, Living Earth worked with various groups in communities to stimulate debate about their forest resources. This project resulted in:

  • The production, dissemination and training of innovative, community-based environmental education resources (including community radio, drama, posters, booklets) in partnership with Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
  • The programme developed pilot community forestry initiatives in up to three targeted communities and explored the potential for a micro-credit scheme to facilitate the initiatives.
  • Technical support and training to targeted communities was implemented to enable them to manage sustainable forest management projects in partnership with local NGOs and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MINEF).
  • Sets of education materials were produced for local communities and other collaborating stakeholders.
  • Training workshops and resources were produced to strengthen NGOs and local forestry networks in supporting community forestry projects.
  • Through the production of working papers, the programme disseminated lessons learned from the implementation of these projects to Government bodies and NGOs, informing them of government forest policy.

Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project – Phase 2 (CEESP II)

  • Production of locally appropriate environment education teaching resources for primary and secondary schools in 5 provinces
  • Development and delivery of pre- and in-school teacher training in EE for teachers, education inspectors, NGO staff and teacher training colleges
  • Capacity building within Government Ministries (Education, Environment and Forestry departments), through training workshops, ensuring sustainability of the programme outcomes.
  • Development and delivery of a series of environmental radio programmes for farmers and Government extension workers to help  manage resources more sustainably and make more informed decisions about the use of the natural resource base.

Project Funding

Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project – Phase 1 (CEESP I) was funded by the EU, in partnership with the Government of Cameroon (GoC).

Learning for Life programme which ran from 1998 to 1999, was funded by the National Lottery Charities Board.

Cameroon Environmental Education Support Project – Phase 2 (CEESP II) was funded for 2 years (2003-2005) by the European Union and UK Department for Environment and Rural Affair’s (DEFRA) Darwin Initiative

 

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