A fun day on the countryside: Engaging youth to strengthen conservation in Tanzania
By Brooklyn Bass
On March 9, 2019 in the Ruvuma region in southern Tanzania, a boisterous group of a local community’s youth gathers to sing, dance, and celebrate harmonious relationships with the environment and surrounding wildlife. Made possible by the Celebrating Africa’s Giants Program, the activity is one of many which seek to build community support, improve environmental awareness, and increase involvement in the conservation efforts that ensure the long-term survival of Africa’s giants — elephants, giraffes, and rhinos.
The program is funded by the USAID Promoting Tanzania’s Environment, Conservation, and Tourism (PROTECT) activity, implemented by RTI International, which focuses on building partnerships with wildlife, conservation, and tourism organizations in Tanzania to address threats to biodiversity conservation and private sector-led tourism growth. As a grantee of the project, the PAMS Foundation organized the “fun day” event and ensured it was a success.
The “fun day” is one of three organized by the foundation commemorating elephants and giraffes. It follows a series of other program activities including the production of a bilingual story book for students titled “Helping Brother Rhinoceros,” a creative learning experience intended to inspire a new generation of Tanzanian conservationists. The book was distributed to 19 schools in northern Tanzania and 11 schools in the south. Additionally, the PAMS Foundation hired a local gospel choir from Mto wa Mbu to record the jingle, “Hasa Twiga,” which translates to “Especially Giraffes.” The short song promotes environmentalism and raises awareness of the significance of giraffes to the ecosystem. Through the support of USAID PROTECT, the foundation played the jingle on a radio station for one month to spur involvement from youth in surrounding areas.
As the project continues, other programming is in the works. The team is developing elephant and rhino lesson plans to further their efforts in the classroom and engage more youth.
__________________________________
RTI implements the USAID Promoting Tanzania’s Environment, Conservation, and Tourism (PROTECT) activity to address the dynamics that threaten biodiversity and inhibit private sector–led ecotourism growth, including the trafficking of illegal wildlife products. The five-year USAID PROTECT activity focuses on strengthening institutions and building capacity so that Tanzanians can better protect their biodiversity. Read more.
