Last October 8, the United Nations finally declared “access to a healthy environment” a human right. What is biodiversity? What is sustainability? What is climate change? We often see and hear these words as the world scrambles to save the planet. What do these concepts mean for the people residing in key biodiversity areas or those in the frontlines of conservation?
Nanay Melanie Baay admits that she is the oldest in the group. She is 65 years old, a homemaker, and one of the 22 women leaders who participated in a Facilitator’s Training on Basic Ecology and Forest Conservation.
She sat in front of the venue with a notebook in hand—eager to learn. As a senior citizen, Nanay Melanie was supposed to be exempted from attending the training. But as soon as the barangay captain asked her to participate in the three-day training, she couldn’t help but be curious about the said topic. Nanay Melanie shared that she could hardly recall if these topics were taught in school back in the day. Thus, getting a chance to learn, relearn, and unlearn important concepts about the environment, especially its current state is a great opportunity.
With the current K-12 curriculum implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd), part of the conceptual framework of science education is to promote a deeper understanding of values to protect the environment and conserve resources. To bridge the gap between generations, continuous environmental education is vital for stakeholders and constituents living within and near key biodiversity areas.
Haribon Foundation through the Women Go Project conducted training that covered basic concepts on ecology and ecosystems, Philippine biodiversity, climate change, salient feature on environmental laws, and a whole module on how the participants can conduct the training themselves.
On the second day of training, Nanay Melanie was asked to share at least one thing she learned from the previous discussion before another series of lectures. Instead of sharing what was discussed, she told the group what she did before going to bed. “Dahil may internet, nag-Google pa ako ng tungkol sa biodiversity, endemic, ecology, at ecosystem,” she said. The first training day went by so fast while learning a lot, according to Nanay. She searched more videos to further satisfy her curiosity on the topics she recently learned.
On the last day of training, the participants were tasked to do a teaching demonstration as practice and measurement of everything they have learned. Each one developed their own teaching materials based on the previous lectures.
To wrap up their group presentation, Nanay Melanie started to sing and dance: “Ang mga ibon na lumilipad ay mahal ng Dios, ‘di kumukupas. Ang mga ibon na lumilipad, ay mahal ng Dios ‘di kumukupas, wag ka na malungkot, praise the lord…” It’s a common Filipino Christian song that promotes the importance of the environment. Everyone else followed suit and sang and danced their hearts out.
The Facilitator’s Training on Basic Ecology and Forest Conservation is part of the capacity-building efforts of the Women Go project, a four-year project in partnership with the European Union-Philippines. The project aims to empower rural women and increase their influence on forest governance in the protected area (PP 1636) located in the municipalities of Real, Infanta, General Nakar (REINA) to improve community well-being and promote climate resiliency.
