In accordance with the Development and Management Plan of the W Niger National Park, the AdaptWAP project launched environmental education campaigns on climate change related-issues that benefited to no less than 900 schoolchildren in the communities bordering the W park. This initiative is the first step of a promising approach aimed at enlightening younger generations about the environmental challenges facing the WAP complex, while strengthening their resilience to CC issues.
Interactive sessions, playful workshops and popularized presentations helped these young people understand climate change and the possibilities they had to face its impacts on their communities. Under the leadership of the General Directorate of Water and Forests (Ministry of the Environment, Health and Sustainable Development), the Niger Component of the AdaptWAP project wants for these schoolchildren to be aware and to have the necessary tools to reinforce their resilience and become agents of change.
For the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved, the environment needs to become an essential component of educational programs which integrate cross-cutting skills with the purposes of education for citizenship, peace and sustainable development. An educational action also becomes highly important as it gives birth to ecologically responsible citizens.
By providing the necessary knowledge and developing practical tools, environmental education promotes the adoption of responsible behaviours and the values of respect and preservation of our environment and the resources it gives us.