Awareness Campaign

FORMULATING AND IMPLEMENTING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

A. Background

1. Sustainable management and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity are a priority for Cambodia, which relies heavily on land, water, and biotic resources and is on the verge of rapid urban, industrial, and agricultural development. In such cases, environmental policies should be fitted to the conditions and traditions of the country. Implementation will not be successful without the active participation of all citizens, especially those who depend on natural resources.

2. When Cambodia nominated in 1996 the Tonle Sap for designation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a biosphere reserve, the Government recognized that the site should respond to the conservation, development, and logistic functions of a biosphere reserve and that education and public awareness should be given importance. At the national level, information on conservation and sustainable use, as practiced in biosphere reserves, should be included in school programs and teaching manuals and in media efforts. At the local level, involvement of local communities should be encouraged, information for visitors should be produced, and environmental education centers should be promoted.

3. Since its creation in 1993, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) has worked toward such ends.1 As a result, an Interministerial Steering Committee for Environmental Education (IMSCEE) was established that year with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP’s) Environmental Technical Assistance Project (ETAP). UNESCO was associated with related environmental education activities, particularly with developing environmental education materials for school curricula and producing teacher guides for primary and secondary schools. A special program for educating monks was also put in place. However, many of these activities were interrupted when ETAP ended in 1998. Considering the importance of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve (TSBR) and the severity of the threats against it, it is urgent that progress in environmental education and awareness continue and that a national campaign be mounted in support. This would also help Cambodia to meet obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 that stress the importance of education and public awareness on biodiversity.

B. Approach to Campaign Formulation and Implementation

1. Objective and Outputs

4. The goal of the Project is sustainable management and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity in the Tonle Sap basin. The objective that formulation and implementation of a national environmental education and awareness campaign will help to accomplish is strengthened natural resource management coordination and planning for the TSBR, particularly by establishing a coordination framework and information dissemination mechanisms. The outputs needed to formulate and implement the campaign are as follows (i) publicizing the Tonle Sap's environmental importance; (ii) integrating concern for natural resources; and (iii) developing formal and nonformal environmental education. These outputs

1 The Department of Environmental Education and Communication has 23 staff and four offices for education and training, communication, research and documentation, and administration.

will be defined by the target audience, i.e., the general public and the press, decision makers, schoolchildren (at primary and secondary levels), university students, and communities living in the Tonle Sap region.

2. Key Activities by Output

a. Publicizing the Tonle Sap's Environmental Importance

5. Encouraging the Press. The Cambodian Communication Institute, which is supported by UNESCO, will include information sessions on the environment and the Tonle Sap in its training courses. In addition, a document in the Khmer language will be distributed to the press to explain the significance of the TSBR and publicize efforts to enhance systems and develop the capacity for natural resource management coordination and planning, community-based natural resource management, and biodiversity conservation in the TSBR. Periodic information conferences for journalists will also be organized. Full use will be made of the TSBR web site to be developed in the TSBR environmental information database (TSBR-ED). The activities will be undertaken in close cooperation with the Ministry of Information.

6. Enhancing Public Awareness. In rural areas, access to television is still limited. However, collective television watching is a common practice. A series of spots on the Tonle Sap will be produced and a quiz show will be launched on the subject of biodiversity conservation in the Tonle Sap. An image bank on the Tonle Sap will be created and made available to the press. Radio programs will be encouraged for coverage in Cambodia is wide and reaches remote rural areas. Regular short broadcasts about environmental issues will be launched. To reach the general public, special events will be organized on the theme of the Tonle Sap—theater plays, contests, and traveling exhibits.2 Existing events such as the Water Festival, the National Environment Day, and the Clean Up Day will also present opportunities for a special focus on the Tonle Sap.3 Participatory activities such as tree planting campaigns will be encouraged and should receive enough press coverage to have a pedagogic impact. Additionally, use of the pagoda network will provide a way to reach communities, especially in remote areas. Pagodas are present in almost every commune of the country. They are places where people meet and often include libraries and primary schools. UNESCO implemented a Community Temple Learning Center Program in Siem Reap and Battambang in 1994–1999. The structure of that program proved to be particularly appropriate for non-formal education: 20,000 people completed basic literacy courses, 1,500 completed skill training courses, and 1,500 young children received basic instruction. This network will be used to disseminate information on the environment. The emerging network of community learning centers will also be used.

b. Integrating Concern for Natural Resources

7. Informing Decision Makers. Establishment under the Project of a web site in the TSBR-ED and production of a bimonthly newsletter, titled Tonle Sap Update—Bulletin of the TSBR will help to inform decision makers. The document—prepared to explain the significance of the TSBR, and publicize efforts to enhance systems and develop the capacity for natural resource management coordination and planning, community-based natural resource management, and biodiversity conservation in the TSBR—will be distributed to ministries and

2 The exhibit on the Tonle Sap produced by Krousar Thmey, and supported by UNESCO, could serve as the basis for traveling exhibits. 3 One of the Peace Walks organized each year could be organized around the Tonle Sap, starting from Angkor.

institutions at the national, provincial, and local levels. Workshops on issues and problems related to management of the Tonle Sap will be organized on an ad hoc basis.

8. Establishing a Forum for Discussion. The IMSCEE, which was established in 1996 and discontinued in December 1998, will be reactivated and the Ministry of Information will be added to its original members.4 The IMSCEE will meet once a year to discuss environmental education and awareness issues related to the Tonle Sap and to set targets. The TSBR Secretariat will act as its secretariat.

c. Developing Formal and Nonformal Environmental Education

9. Preparing Educational Materials. As part of ETAP (with assistance from UNESCO), a teacher’s manual for primary schools was prepared and distributed in 1998. At the secondary school level, five of the nine training modules prepared by UNESCO's Asia Pacific Center of Educational Innovation for Development in Bangkok were translated into the Khmer language and distributed through the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports. Recently, a set of posters produced by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Secretariat in Paris were translated into the Khmer language and published. They are now being tested among teachers. Much additional material, such as the School Teacher's Guide on the Environment or MOE's Green Book remain unpublished or not distributed. Previous and ongoing work in preparing educational materials will be examined with a view to completing or extending it. The formal monk education program initiated by ETAP will also be continued after considering recommendations from a national workshop held in 1998. Moreover, the status of a manual for Buddhist primary school teachers, which was being prepared then, will be examined for possible completion. In addition, awareness and use of the TSBR web site will be promoted in schools that have access to the Internet.

10. Improving the Training of Teachers. Training of teachers remains a priority. Four teacher-training centers are located in Battambang, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Thom, and Siem Reap. At least two training sessions per annum, each for 20 teachers, will be organized in each center. A field visit to the Tonle Sap will be part of the training. This means that 160 teachers (from primary and secondary schools) will be trained each year. The schools from which they originate will serve as pilot sites for the environmental education and awareness campaign, taking into account the school cluster system. In addition, training and field visits will be organized for teachers in schools within the TSBR, particularly those teaching in the floating villages.

11. Fostering Nonformal Education Activities. Nongovernment organizations undertake many nonformal education activities. Their activities will be studied with a view to extending or replicating them. Teachers will be encouraged to include nonformal education activities to complement the formal school system. Schools in the TSBR will be involved in more interactive activities, including production of material by children (including audiovisual material when possible) as well as drawing and painting competitions. Field visits to the Tonle Sap will be organized for children.

12. Expanding Environmental Training at Phnom Penh University. Two years ago, a Department of Environment was established in Phnom Penh University. Under the Project, its students will receive special training on hydrology and wetlands ecology. Field visits will also be organized to encourage students to undertake studies on the Tonle Sap. UNESCO, through its

4 They were MOE; the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports; and the Ministry of Religion and Cults.

World Network of Biosphere Reserves, will facilitate exchange of students between Cambodia and other countries of the Asian and Pacific region endowed with biosphere reserves.5

3. Methodology

13. Wherever possible, project activities will complement ongoing initiatives.6 For that reason, a survey will assess existing networks, activities, and materials, and identify additional requirements. This is especially important for teaching materials. Capacity building also implies that the Project will make maximum use of national counterparts and that the role of international experts will be kept to a minimum.

C. Implementation Arrangements

14. UNESCO will be appointed by direct selection to implement the national environmental education and awareness campaign with the Department of Environmental Education and Communication within MOE. Designated focal points will be identified in each concerned ministry to ensure that the project activities defined for each ministry are undertaken on schedule. UNESCO’s office in Phnom Penh will be responsible for implementation, in close association with UNESCO’s office in Bangkok. UNESCO’s office in Jakarta and the MAB Secretariat in Paris will backstop activities as appropriate. It is foreseen that the preparatory phase of the campaign will last 6 months and that the campaign itself will spread over the remaining project implementation period.

5 The World Network fosters exchanges between biosphere reserves and facilitates cooperative activities, including scientific research and monitoring, environmental education, and specialist training. 6 These include initiatives carried out by the floating environmental center (Greater Environment Chong Khneas

Office [GECKO]) funded under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s project for

Participatory Natural Resources Management in the Tonle Sap Region: Osmose; the Wildlife Conservation

Society; the Cambodian Family Development Service; and Leucaena.