Environmental Education "In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught." For more than a decade, GPOCP has been helping local students in grades K-12 understand and appreciate the treasure trove of extraordinary biodiversity found in and around the Gunung Palung National Park in southwestern Borneo, with an eye towards creating an enduring forest conservation ethic among the region's population. Through its environmental education programming -- in the classroom and in the field -- GPOCP is building long-term, grassroots support for the protection of the endangered orangutan and its threatened forest habitat. Reaching out to more than 1,400 students each year to help them connect to their environment is an effective conservation strategy that will pay critical conservation dividends. Armed with knowledge and passion, students are able to both influence their parents today and lead their communities to a more sustainable future tomorrow. To ensure our environmental education programming reaches all corners of the vast bioregion in which we work (which includes more than 400 schools), GPOCP has implemented a hands-on teach the teachers training program, which builds professional capacity directly within schools. This allows teachers to integrate environmental education into their curriculum every day and across a wide variety of educational activities. GPOCP's environmental education program aspires to make conservation an 'up close and personal' experience for people of all ages in order to ensure a permanent home for the orangutans of southwest Borneo. The creation of our new Bentangor Environmental Education Center in 2009 allows us to work hand-in-hand with community leaders and villagers, empowering them with knowledge and skills to manage their natural resources to the greatest benefit of current and future generations. Click on each topic below to learn more about GPOCP's multi-faceted environmental education programs. |  Students explore forest ecology at Lubuk Baji Campsite.  Puppets help students learn about orangutans and their forest environment.  Leaf identification display created by students on a field trip in the forest.  Orangutan, photo by Tim Laman. |