DR Congo – In DR Congo, Join For Water, together with BOS+ and Tropenbos DRC, went on an interactive discovery in the rainforest with the primary school teachers and their pupils, on the occasion of World Water Day. After all, water and forest are intrinsically linked and both essential for humans, animals and plants.
On 22 March we celebrated World Water Day, and the day before was International Forest Day. In DR Congo, Join For Water and its partners BOS+ and Tropenbos DRC celebrated these two days with the primary schools of the villages of Bafwaboli and Bafwapada, in the province of Tshopo.
The participating children, future rainforest managers, received the following message from Tropenbos DRC: “Forests and water are two essential resources for the survival of people, animals and plants. Their protection is essential for the preservation of various life forms on earth.”
Forest, water, people and animals are mutually interdependent
Through interactive role-play, the children came to understand the relationships between these two ecosystems and the need to protect them. Using this participatory and interactive approach, the children learnt about the need for sustainable forest management – including the concessions their community received over a piece of rainforest – about the water cycle and its role in forest regeneration, and about the interdependence between forests, water, people and animals.
The school principals are already of the opinion that this awareness-raising should be permanent and not limited to the two participating schools. There is also a demand for teacher training on sustainable forest management.