Juniors’ Classroom Exchange

The Junior Reef Doctors programme has been going extremely well since it began in 2014. The Juniors learn about marine ecosystems and conservation, and we hope that as they grow into adults they will use their knowledge of how to care for the environment and sustainable living to teach following generations.

Our nearest NGO neighbour, Honko, has also recently begun their own Juniors programme with the aim of educating children in the area about the importance of mangrove forests. Their programme is also going very well and the Junior Reef Doctors and our staff got to see how well on Saturday when the Honko Juniors and staff visited us.

The Honko Juniors made some great posters about the mangrove ecosystem, the utility of mangroves in every day life and how to protect this resource, which they used to make a really fun and informative presentation to our Juniors class on Saturday. They then attended a lesson with the  Juniors Reef Doctor on threats to the environment. Of course, there were games and snacks for everyone afterwards!

We look forward to more classroom exchanges and presentations with Honko and other NGOs in the future with the aim of teaching children about different elements and aspects of conservation. We hope that a holistic approach to conservation will become a part of every day life for these children and will help to prepare them for a time when they are making the decisions in their community and how those decisions will affect their environment.

Report by RD Comms officer Ivana Rubino