In 2010 Dr. Andy Phillips (President) came up with the idea and seed money to develop a special conservation education program for children from impoverished families living near Earth’s critical habitats. Known as the Little Green Guards®, this program quickly flourished around the world under the leadership of Dr. Phillips and Dr. Chia Tan (Vice President). Particularly in Nepal our Little Green Guards® program has grown by leaps and bounds, owing to the steadfast effort of Mr. Bishwanath Rijal (Nepal Program Coordinator). There, over 45,000 children in more than 40 schools across the country have participated in our education and outreach activities. To further boost the children’s conservation literacy and improve their attitudes toward nature protection, in 2016 we launched a bi-monthly magazine called, Green Guard (ISSN 2645-8608), a peer-to-peer publication written by children for children. This magazine has been recognized as an excellent tool for teaching wildlife biology to students, and for raising conservation awareness in community members and local government officials (see post Green Guard – Loved by Students and Appreciated by Teachers).
To clearly demonstrate the impact of our Little Green Guards® program, Dr. Phillips, Mr. Rijal and our dedicated volunteers conducted a systematic survey that evaluated students’ knowledge about and empathy toward wildlife. Their answers absolutely validated the importance and effectiveness of our education and outreach efforts. Specifically, students who had benefited from our Little Green Guards® program were better informed on wildlife biology and conservation issues than those who had not. They also were far more concerned about the plight of wildlife and were more willing to help in local conservation efforts. As awareness, empathy and the willingness to take action are critical for the long-term protection of species and habitats, these findings are particularly encouraging and rewarding. Moving forward, this valuable information will help guide our program expansion as we tackle the problem of human-elephant conflict in southeastern Nepal.
Stay tuned for more Little Green Guards® success stories!