Madagascar Wildlife Conservation

February 2011: Emmanuelle Tanaïs Aupest draws educative materials as addition to the MWC comic
The goal of MWC’s environmental education is to interest school children in their environment through diverse learning offers and to introduce them to different methods of conservation. The artist Emmanuelle Tanaïs Aupests educational material is designed to be used interactively in class and therefore forms a perfect addition to MWC’s program.

The material consists of three habitat images and a page with animals from the region Alaotra. Scissors and glue will be handed to the children in the classroom, in order for them to cut out the animals and paste them into the right environment. By doing so children should notice that the gorilla has sneaked onto the animal page but does not live in their environment. A second way to use the materials is by doing a multiple choice exercise where the children have to connect short descriptions to the right animals.

Homepage of the artist: www.tanais-aupest.com

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January 2011: Film about the Bandro and the Project Alaotra
In 2010 a team of two journalists and filmmakers visited Camp Bandro to shoot a short movie about the Bandro and the projects of MWC. The film is now finished and has recently been published on the website of “The Guardian”. MWC is very grateful to Richard Sprenger und Emily Payne for her excellent work documenting the rare Bandro, the life in the village of Andreba and the conservation activities of MWC.

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November 2010: EAZA again supports MWC’s environmental education program
In the second round of its Madagascar campaign the European Association of Zoos and Aquarias (EAZA) considered the environmental education program of MWC with a donation of 8,900 EUR.

With this contribution MWC aims at developing a scientific tool to evaluate the comic book´s impact on the pupil´s environmental knowledge and awareness. Surveys and questionnaires will be used to explore possible drivers and barriers impeding or increasing environmental learning. This data will then be implemented to advance and improve the project’s educational effect.

During the evaluation phase an annual teacher’s workshop will be organized offering the chance to exchange experiences and knowledge on environmental education. Additionally a travelling exhibition is planned for 2012 that will move from school to school offering interactive activities about environmental issues (e.g. draw pictures, play theatre or environmental games, create clay animals, see documentary movies about the nature in other countries etc..) for the school children.

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October 2010: "McCrae Conservation and Education Fund" finances a learning poster about Lake Alaotra
Janet McCrae is a dedicated English conservationist, who has supported conservation and environmental education in different places of Madagascar for a long time. Her "McCrea conservation and Education Fund" has already financed the drawing of five learning posters of different Malagasy habitats by an English artist. In 2011 the artist will now draw another poster about Lake Alaotra that can be integrated in the environmental education of primary schools.

Antje Rendigs from MWC Germany has met Janet McCrea in October 2010 in Madagascar and visited with her one of the primary schools near the Lake. The teachers of the school were very interested and a lively discussion on design and content of the new poster emerged.

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