The Darwin Projects

Working together for biodiversity: A Global Impact

FSC biodiversity projects have been supported by the Darwin Initiative throughout the world.

What is the Darwin Initiative? | Objectives of the Darwin Initiative | The Projects

Current projects

Caspian Sea, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan

Completed projects

Slovakia , Caribbean, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines

Local resources for local people

Over 50 different books, identification guides and other resources have been produced working with local people.
Fold-out charts  Identification guides  Teacher's guides  Student's resources  Community packs

What is the Darwin Initiative?

The Darwin Initiative was announced by the UK Government at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The aim of the Initiative is to assist those countries which are rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) through the funding of collaborative projects which draw on UK biodiversity expertise.

The Darwin Advisory Committee (currently chaired by Professor David Ingram), consisting of experts from government, academic, science and the private sector, advises Ministers on development of the Initiative and makes recommendations on applications for funding.

The Initiative aims to build on the strengths of the scheme by:

• improving the collaboration with host countries throughout the whole project
• strengthening the links with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• enhancing the legacy of Darwin projects.

The Darwin Initiative draws on the wealth of biodiversity expertise in the UK to work with local partners in host countries to protect and enhance their biodiversity.

The Initiative is funded and administered by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Defra).

Objectives of the Darwin Initiative

• To assist countries rich in biodiversity but poor in resources with the conservation of biological diversity and implementation of the Biodiversity Convention.
• To draw on British expertise in the field of biodiversity.
• Projects funded under the Initiative will be collaborative, involving either local institutions or communities in the host country.
• Projects will have a real impact on the ability of the host country to meet its obligations under the Biodiversity Convention.
• Projects will be of high quality and scientific (or other appropriate professional) excellence.
• Whenever possible, Darwin funding will be used as a catalyst to lever additional funding for project work, which would not otherwise be forthcoming.
• The outputs and outcomes from projects should be additional to that from work being funded through other mainstream environmental or research programmes.
• Projects funded under the Initiative will demonstrate good value for money.

The FSC is grateful to the Darwin Initiative for supporting a range of projects from the start of this funding. FSC projects largely focus on biodiversity education and link this with practical conservation activities.

The Projects

Biodiversity Education and Action around the Caspian

Status – NEW (2005 – 2009)

Introduction

The purpose of the project is to protect the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea through enhanced biodiversity education and action in schools and communities around the Caspian in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Objectives

• Increase teachers, school students and community knowledge of Caspian biodiversity within the context of sustainable development, stressing the importance of monitoring and how biodiversity can be protected.
• Provide support for teachers in the form of programmes, training, teaching materials and a support network to integrate biodiversity learning into school programmes
• Develop systems and resources to allow schools and communities to monitor and record Caspian biodiversity

The project will have the following impacts

• Improved biodiversity of the Caspian - this will be the long term impact
• Improved quality and effectiveness of biodiversity education - through:
  1. Providing higher quality resources than are currently available:
  2. The development of programmes so that teachers can use the resources effectively:
  3. Giving teachers and students a better awareness of biodiversity, and one that puts biodiversity in the context of sustainable development:
  4. We shall be providing training for teachers, together with published materials and support for them on the web site:
  5. Communities becoming more aware and learning through participation in monitoring
• Enhancement of school and community participation in biodiversity protection - the creation of a system for school and community biodiversity monitoring.
• Increase in knowledge and data on biodiversity of the Caspian - through the collection of biodiversity data by schools and communities, around the Caspian.

The project is working with a significant number of people. We are working with five countries and all the

Coastal schools in those countries will receive copies of the posters and have the opportunity for training.

The main emphasis of dissemination will be on increasing the number of Biodiversity Monitoring Groups – during the project we shall be working with groups of pilot schools in each country.

Latest info

This project will be started in September at the Regional Conference

Contact for further details: Dr James Hindson fscee@field-studies-council.org

Partner: Caspian Environment Programme (see the FSCEE Partners page for more information)

Supporting the development of Nature Conservation Education in Bulgaria

Status – Ongoing (2003 – 2006)

Introduction

The purpose of the project is to build the capacity of education decision makers, teacher trainers and teachers to enhance the quality and effectiveness of nature conservation education in the formal school curriculum.

Objectives

• To develop an understanding of nature conservation education that is set within the context of sustainable development
• To build the capacity of the education decision makers, teacher trainers and teachers to enhance the quality and effectiveness of nature conservation education in the formal school curriculum
• To build the material and human resource support to enable effective NCE to take place in schools.

Outcomes

• A body of Nature Conservation experts will be created, drawn from the formal education sector and NGOs, who can support the development of NCE in Bulgaria.
• There will be a greater understanding of the importance of NCE within the context of sustainable development amongst the different stakeholder groups, especially teacher trainers, teachers and education decision makers.
• An enhanced capacity of teacher trainers and teachers to deliver effective NCE.
• More effective NCE through a greater awareness of key biodiversity related issues.
• Young people, a future generation of decision makers in Bulgaria, with a better understanding of biodiversity issues.

Latest info

The National Nature Conservation Education Strategy for Bulgaria was launched at a Conference in June attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Environment. Ken Webster from FSCEE made a keynote presentation.

Contact for further details: Dr James Hindson fscee@field-studies-council.org

Partner: Time Foundation (see the FSCEE Partners page for more information)

School Green Land - Community Awareness in Kyrgyzstan

Status – Ongoing (2002 – 2005)

The goal of this project is to raise awareness and understanding among school students and communities in Kyrgyzstan of the unique value of biodiversity and the importance of protecting this as the country seeks to develop. The project is nearing completion and has so far achieved

• The establishment of a network of 25 schools each of which has created a micro biodiversity reserve in its schools grounds
• Each school is using the micro reserve for teaching classes of children – out of classroom work is not a tradition in Kyrgyzstan!
• The schools are also using the micro reserves for community activities
• BIOM has published a major handbook on Sustainable Development an How to establish micro reserves and use them for teaching.
• BIOM has also produced two A1 full colour posters on teaching biodiversity in schools – and how to establish a micro reserve
• In September we shall be holding a major Conference of Education for Sustainable Development in Bishkek.

Contact for further details: Dr James Hindson fscee@field-studies-council.org

Partner: Youth Ecological Movement - BIOM (see the FSCEE Partners page for more information)

Schools and communities monitoring and protecting biodiversity in Slovakia

Status - Completed

Introduction

Slovakia has one of the richest biodiversities in Europe. But this is under threat primarily from development as a result of the social and economic pressures on the country. There is a need to raise awareness and knowledge of the country's rich natural heritage. The need for the project was identified by the National Government monitoring and protection agency - the Slovak Environmental Agency.

Objectives

• To increase awareness, knowledge, understanding and the protection of biodiversity in Slovakia
• Involve school students, families and communities in · monitoring biodiversity
• Create a series of national biodiversity databases
• Undertake small scale biodiversity conservation projects SO THAT the rich biodiversity of Slovakia will be more greatly valued , understood and protected.

Outcomes

• 3 ecosystem based biodiversity identification keys
• A network of 800 biodiversity monitoring groups in schools and youth groups
• Involvement of students and teachers
• School Biodiversity Report in Poster and CD format
• Results from the Survey mentioned in the Slovak State of the Environment Report
• Development of small scale biodiversity improvement projects
• Business sponsorship attracted to the project.
• Commitment by the Slovak Ministry of Environment to repeat the survey in 2003/4.

Contact for further details: Dr James Hindson fscee@field-studies-council.org

Partner SAZP (see the FSCEE Partners page for more information)

Coral reef biodiversity in the Caribbean: a schools education project

Status - Completed

The protection, conservation and sustainable use of Caribbean coral reefs depends on the support of local communities and visitors. The main aim of this project was to raise awareness and support through the production of education packs, teacher training and schools' based conservation projects in six Caribbean islands and in UK schools. The project was managed in collaboration with the Caribbean Conservation Association. The pack for Caribbean schools (which included a full-colour fold-out identification chart for reef fishes) was aimed at junior schools; the UK book was aimed at A level geographers. The resources linked coral reef ecology, the importance of reefs and their biodiversity as a resource for the region with role of local communities and visitors as custodians and beneficiaries. It also increased the capacity of school teachers to introduce active learning and first hand investigation into the school curriculum through teacher training courses and the development of 25 local school based conservation projects.

Contact for further details: Dr Stephen Tilling steve.tilling@field-studies-council.org

Conserving Vietnam's biodiversity through improved water quality assessment and monitoring

Status - Completed

Much of Vietnam's (and southeast Asia's) globally important biodiversity lies in its wetlands and associated habitats. Its conservation depends on effective management at local and national levels which is itself dependent on raised public awareness and greatly increased knowledge about water quality and related issues (including baseline studies as well as cost-effective and sustainable monitoring and assessment). This project built water quality assessment and monitoring capacity throughout Vietnam and neighbouring countries by working at two levels: with Vietnamese scientists to develop, publish and train in the use of a locally-developed rapid bio-assessment protocol for measuring water quality; to carry out a national education project which involved schools in water quality monitoring. Both objectives were achieved through UK and Vietnam based training for scientists and teachers, and subsequent publication of Vietnamese language manuals, education packs and identification keys. Research projects were also supported by UK experts, leading to an improvement in the national inventory of freshwater invertebrates.

Contact for further details: Dr Stephen Tilling steve.tilling@field-studies-council.org

Conserving India's Biodiversity - NGO Training and Projects with Local Communities

Status – Completed

This joint FSC and CEE North East project designed and delivered a Biodiversity Training Package to NGO's in the NE of India. The project equipped NGOs with the skills and techniques to work effectively with the local community to promote community involvement in the management of biodiversity resources.

Over 5000 people in India reached by the Darwin Biodiversity Project in NE India alone

Contact for further details: Dr James Hindson fscee@field-studies-council.org

Partner CEE (see the FSCEE Partners page for more information)

Practical training in the production of user-friendly keys for selected groups of plants and animals from tropical southeast Asian countries

Status - completed

Although some biological groups in southeast Asia have been well documented, very little is known about the majority of tropical sites. This can only be remedied by giving local people a greater ability to record and describe the biodiversity in their areas. User-friendly keys offer a way of doing this. During this three year project (1995-1998) the FSC worked with the Natural History Museum, London, and six local partners in six countries in southeast Asia to publish a range of user-friendly keys for local communities. The project included a six-week UK training course, followed by the testing of local-language 'test' keys within the host countries. Following these field trials the keys were revised and published. Several thousand people were involved in the testing, and the availability of one of the keys - a Thai key to freshwater invertebrates - was directly responsible for a successful application to another international funder to support a major three-year water quality project with local communities throughout northern Thailand.

Contact for further details: Dr Stephen Tilling steve.tilling@field-studies-council.org

Project Title

Project Title

Biodiversity Education and Teacher Training (BETT)

Countries

Kyrgyzstan

Funder:

Darwin Initiative

Project Summary

The project is an extension of the very successful Darwin Funded School Green Land – Community Biodiversity Awareness in Kyrgyzstan.

The purpose of this project is - to improve the quality of biodiversity education in universities and schools so that young people are better equipped to make decisions that enhance rather than reduce biodiversity in Kyrgyzstan.

The main objectives of the project are:

• To build the capacity of teacher trainers in Kyrgyzstan to deliver high quality biodiversity education to initial teacher training students

• To create a system of biodiversity education that will be delivered to students training to be teachers

• To provide a support framework for teacher trainers delivering biodiversity education

The goal of the original Darwin project was to “raise awareness and understanding of school students and communities in Kyrgyzstan of the unique value of biodiversity and the importance of protecting this as their country seeks to develop”. The objectives of the project were “to raise awareness across the community of the critical importance of protecting Kyrgyzstan’s biodiversity; to increase understanding of biodiversity and sustainable development; to increase the effectiveness of biodiversity education for local communities; to stimulate new behaviours to reduce the loss of biodiversity; to increase the effectiveness of biodiversity education and to raise the capacity of teachers and those working with young people to deliver effective learning about biodiversity.

We consider that we have successfully achieved most of our objectives, and that this new project neatly grows out of and builds on some of the most significant achievements in the original project through a focus on biodiversity education at initial teacher training (ITT) level within University courses. Our original project focused on in service training and at school level. We shall use our resources and apply lessons learnt in our original project to enhance biodiversity education at ITT level. In service training and development is important but training at ITT level will result in the continuous training of teachers in biodiversity education, and over time give all new teachers the capacity to integrate biodiversity education into their subjects. Working with Nar;yn and Issykkul State Universities.

FSC Role:

The FSC will provide the initial training, support the development and piloting of the ITT Biodiversity Education module and also support the monitoring and evaluation. Ongoing support will also be provided to our partner BIOM.

Duration:

2 Years (2006 – 2008)