The Mobile Education Unit in Bukit Tigapuluh
Education is a vital component in the conservation of the Bukit Tigapuluh Ecosystem Protection Program in Sumatra, Indonesia. Bukit Tigapuluh is home to the critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan, Sumatran Tiger and the Sumatran Elephant as well as many other species.
As a part of the Protection Program, a Mobile Education Unit has been run for the past two years to work with the people who live in the more than 30 villages of Bukit Tigapuluh to explain the importance of conserving habitat and wildlife in the area.
In its highly visible tiger-striped truck, the Mobile Education Unit visits the Bukit Tigapuluh villages to run programs for school children of all ages, the local teachers and the community as a whole. Their key role is to raise awareness about the wildlife of the area; of the orangutan reintroduction program which operates in Bukit Tigapuluh, information about native wildlife, the importance of the rainforest and the impact on the community if the rainforest is cleared.
The staff of the Mobile Education Unit have developed programs for each level of schooling: primary, middle adolescence and late adolescence. Perth Zoo has helped with this, providing education materials, advice on programs and during 2011 it is planned that two of the educators from Bukit Tigapuluh will visit Perth Zoo.
Some of the activities of the program include primary school stories and activities about life in the jungle using interactive stories and a puppet show. This shows Uti the Orangutan and her friends, Budi the Rhinoceros, Gaga the Elephant, Heri the Tiger and Dodo the Frog. Middle adolescent children are taught with games, while late adolescents discuss the bigger issues of conservation and climate change and how they can take action. The Mobile Education Unit staff also provide other activities and materials including colouring-in sheets, origami, a wall magazine and workbooks. Some of these are modified Perth Zoo education materials.
Local teachers from around Bukit Tigapuluh are also provided with information about conservation and wildlife so that the messages of the importance of the forest can continue to be taught after the Mobile Education Unit moves on to the next village.
The importance of protecting the forest and its wildlife is a new concept for many of the people in villages surrounding Bukit Tigapuluh. While some of the indigenous people, the ‘Rimba’ for example, are acutely aware of the resource and importance of the forests for life, many locals come from other areas and are new to the forest environment. The forest can appear threatening and dangerous and an impediment to providing sustenance for themselves and their families.
A community program has been developed which includes a movie night featuring the animal ‘stars’ of the Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem and the conservation work being undertaken. Workshops, discussion groups, a wildlife exhibition, brochures, posters and calendars are all a part of the activities for the local communities.
The Mobile Education Unit staff have also provided community training in situations when an orangutan comes into their village so that they know what to do and they do not harm the animal. A similar process is in place to assist the communities to respond to the situation when a wild elephant comes to the village or may raid the community fields.
It is vital to involve local people, from the young to the old, in the conservation of the Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem. The Mobile Education Unit helps to build local appreciation for this amazing habitat in the hope that it remains for future generations.
Perth Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation Action funds $22,000 per year to maintain the Mobile Education Unit and also funded the tiger-striped truck which carries the educators through the rugged terrain of Bukit Tigapuluh. The Zoo’s WCA also funds the Elephant Conflict Mitigation program at Bukit Tigapuluh, the operations of one of the sanctuaries for orangutan in the Park and also a wildlife protection unit which patrols the forest and associated local staff.
Please donate to Wildlife Conservation Action to support this important work.
* figures are as at January 2012
