Student Group from SMK Kinabutan, with Trainers from Yaysasan Sabah, SEARRP and S4 Swansea University at Pandanus Trail
We are very excited to announce that the Environmental Education Kembara Rimba Taliwas programme has started it’s second phase – the school field trips! The programme is a 3-day/2 night immersive exercise at the Taliwas River and Conservation Area (TRCA), that has both classroom and field-based activities for the student participants. The SEARRP Environmental Education and Outreach team and the S4 Swansea University team recently hosted the first of eight school groups at TRCA and the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kinabutan from Tawau was the first school to get to participate in this programme. There were a total of 30 students and 2 teachers from SMK Kinabutan, and the EE sessions were conducted by Yayasan Sabah Forest Rangers and SEARRP Research Assistants who have just undergone our ‘Train-the-Trainers’ programme.
Classroom activities with students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kinabutan, Tawau
Students identifying macroinvertebrates for the Hands-on activity Living Rivers
Students identifying plant functional groups in for Activity 3- Why are my leaves that shape?
The Kembara Rimba Taliwas programme is an interactive and effective environmental education initiative that aims to make complex scientific information about the environment and climate change accessible and relevant to the next generation of environmental leaders. The programme offers classroom tutorials, hands-on activities in the field and fun interactive extracurricular activities such as arts and craft sessions and live performances presented by each student group. The feedback from our first school group was incredibly positive and we are excited to host the next seven schools!
This excellent two-year project is supported by the National Geographic Society to mentor a new generation of environmental champions through participatory science and capacity building at the Taliwas River Conservation Area.
Arts & Crafts are a great way to teach about the importance of protecting the environment – and it is so fun too!
