During November and December 2019, a team from the Salonga National Park Management Unit (UGPNS) carried out an education and environmental awareness campaign in schools in the Monkoto area.

Education and environmental awareness-raising is one of the measures adopted by UGPNS to improve relations between the Park and riverside communities and to promote participatory management of natural resources.

30 schools located in the Monkoto Corridor and on the road between Monkoto and Wafanya have been selected for this awareness-raising action. The mission’s objective was to introduce students and their teachers to some environmental issues of importance to the region including climate change, environmental management, and the importance of natural resources in daily life.

Nature clubs have also been created in each of the 30 schools visited, which shall further help students and teachers to actively participate in nature conservation actions in their own environment.

Students and teachers in these 30 schools have thus a better understanding of the basic concepts of climate change, basic ecological cycles, and the importance of a protected area.