Educational Activities - Outreach Programme (March - April 2016)
BSBCC’s outreach programme continued to run actively throughout March and April 2016. During these months, BSBCC’s education team visited 17 schools in 6 different districts within Sabah which were Sandakan, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud, Lahad Datu, Beluran and Telupid.
Visiting new districts
Visiting the schools in Kota Marudu, Kota Belud and Telupid for the first time was enlightening for the team. Every district in Sabah has its own unique ethnicity and cultural background. Interacting with these students from the Dusun and Bajau tribes was interesting. With their substantial knowledge about the wild animals that exists around them made them more enthusiast to learn further about these species. The team’s approach on wildlife conservation may be different than that of what they have learnt about their wildlife growing up.
Many tribes in Sabah were hunters and some still hunt to sustain their lives apart from farming and fishing activities. The education team hopes that through these activities, the students can be aware of the importance of protecting our wildlife.
BSBCC has been working closely with several organizations for its outreach programmes including HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (HUTAN-KOCP), Sabah Wildlife Department and the Environment Protection Department (EPD). This year, Reef Guardian, an organization that manages the marine conservation area in the archipelago of Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA) joined our team. Our awareness programme activities has expanded and now includes the protection of our marine wildlife and environment. Visiting schools with a team of passionate people has brought learning about wildlife and the environment more fun, enjoyable and effective for the students.
The team was grateful of how welcoming the teachers and students were during our visit. The schools, with the support from the District Education Department provided the opportunities for these students to spend their school sessions to learning about their precious wildlife and habitat.
Outreach programme at SMK Beluran
On the 7th April 2016, BSBCC organized an outreach programme for the first time in the Beluran district. SMK Beluran, one of the middle schools in the district town was very excited to have our team conduct the programme. As the team arrived the school in at 7am, the students were already gathered at the school hall. A few teachers were standing at the front of the hall, welcoming for our arrival.
The organizations that joined us during the programme at this school was the Sabah Wildlife Department and Reef Guardian. The school had their students conduct the opening ceremony of the programme before we began our talks, quizzes and environmental games.
Table 1: List of schools visited for outreach programme in March and April 2016.
Mr. Rayner Anthony presenting his talk about Reef Guardian’s work in protecting the marine wildlife.
The students and teachers also get to interact with the team members at the display booth, where they can learn more about the works of each organizations.
Apart from learning about our terrestrial wildlife, many of the audiences were eager to discuss about issues on our marine ecosystem. This may relate to the close proximity of Beluran town along the river and the livelihood of the surrounding community where many were fisherman. Involvement of Reef Guardian and Sabah Wildlife Department were very helpful in the issues discussed.
The team ended the programme at 12pm with a closing ceremony and presentation of souvenirs from the team to the school. The success of the programme can never be achieved without the collaboration from SMK Beluran, Beluran District Education Office and all organizations involved. Many thanks from Bornean Sun Bear
Conservation Centre.
