The 2020-2021 school year was marked by significant changes and adjustments due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on teachers and students across the country. Despite this, the education team from SVW, Pu Mat National Park, the Con Cuong District Department of Education and Training, and teachers and students in Con Cuong worked hard to successfully implement the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Awareness Education program in four buffer zone communes of Pu Mat National Park. The initiative aimed to share fascinating knowledge about nature and wildlife while fostering a love for the environment and a sense of pride in the beautiful Pu Mat National Park among the students.

In the 2021-2022 school year, we are excited to continue our partnership with local students to carry out various wildlife-focused activities using new and engaging formats, with the goal of providing useful and fun extracurricular experiences. Given the current complex pandemic situation, we have developed and adapted the program to suit both the students and the broader social context. According to the plan, upcoming conservation events, the "Protecting Pu Mat Forest with You" club activities, and school radio broadcasts will continue to reach nearly 5,000 students in the new semester.

Accordingly, the format of the second conservation event will be adjusted to comply with current pandemic conditions. Instead of gathering all students as in the first event, a special educational kit featuring messages about the illegal use, hunting, and trade of wildlife will be designed, produced, and distributed to all schools. Students will be able to play this game right in their classrooms during extracurricular sessions, guided by their homeroom teachers.

Le Thi Kim Ngan, the project coordinator, added: "Science and reality have proven that children have a significant influence on the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of adults in their families and communities. Therefore, the project is designed to enhance the role of students in encouraging their communities to join in protecting wildlife."

To achieve this, through the "Protecting Pu Mat Forest with You" club, each student will become a "junior ambassador," spreading a love for nature and sharing the knowledge and conservation messages they have learned from the program with their friends, teachers, parents, and the wider community. These messages will be shared through school and village radio broadcasts, supported by educational materials distributed to every student and household in the area.

In addition to the official SVW website and Facebook page, images and information about the program's activities will be updated regularly on the Nature Conservation Education page: https://facebook.com/GiaoDucBaoTonThienNhien.svw.vnWe invite you to follow along and help spread the program's conservation education message to the community.

About the "Pu Mat National Park Nature and Wildlife Conservation Awareness Education Program":

The school-based conservation education program for children in the Pu Mat National Park buffer zone is implemented by the Save Vietnam's Wildlife (SVW) center in collaboration with the Pu Mat National Park Forest Protection Department, with funding from Welttierschutzgesellschaft e.V. (WTG).

The program consists of five main components:
(1) Research and surveys on students' awareness, attitudes, and behaviors regarding wildlife protection before and after the program to evaluate the effectiveness of the conservation education methods;
(2) Conservation events integrated into extracurricular activities;
(3) The "Protecting Pu Mat Forest with You" club at schools in the Pu Mat National Park buffer zone;
(4) Nature-based experiential education to provide students with opportunities to get closer to and better understand the wild environment;
(5) "Junior ambassadors" program, featuring content that calls for wildlife protection, broadcasted at schools and villages in the districts surrounding the Pu Mat National Park buffer zone.

The program is implemented in all primary and secondary schools and school sites in Yen Khe, Chau Khe, Mon Son communes, and Con Cuong town, located in Con Cuong district, Nghe An province.