The international day for biological diversity (22nd of May), this year has in focus the sustainable development. This special day for the environmental calendar was celebrated with the children of the elementary school in Selenica. Around 50 children from 13-15 years old participated in the activity organized by EcoAlbania’s education team in the frame of the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign.
Since the beginning the interaction between children and us was very good. Through presentations with nice photos from flora and fauna of Vjosa valley, we aimed to explain the meaning of Biodiversity and to raise the awareness by sharing interesting information regarding the rich biodiversity of this area. Knowing about the values of the biodiversity, they can learn about the sustainable development concept.
Very little is known for the biodiversity of the Vjosa River in general and specifically in the programme of the classes’ curricula, the biodiversity is not treated at all. For this reason we have organized this informative and educating activity with the school-children of Selenica. The aim of the activity is to raise the awareness of the students for the rich biodiversity of the valley and through them to influence to their parents and friends. The best way to highlight the importance of the biodiversity is bringing to the children several examples on how the species are related to their habitats and what are the effects of the human behavior in their life. We used short movies to illustrate the specific role of each species in the ecosystems and the relation between them.
The last game was the vertical poem of the word biodiversity and the children has to find words and biological concepts related to nature and environment, different for each letter of the main word. The children were very enthusiastic and found many words for each letter and some of them were the names of flora and fauna of Vjosa valley. This game was the best indicator to measure the impact of this activity and their learning.
Together with our volunteers we the provided a joyful day full of motivation and positivity. The children were very active and participating actively in the presentation and games during the activity. We were surprised on the great interest and high level of knowledge on flora and fauna of their region. To be admired is the fact that they are aware that they are very important actors of the future of their environment.
By Besjana Guri/ EcoAlbania
