Education and Training

One of the primary objectives of the Rainforest Habitat is environmental education. This is carried out in several ways:

1. The Visiting Public.
Many Papua New Guinean people now live in the major cities and do not have regular contact with the rainforest and its wildlife inhabitants At the Rainforest Habitat they are able to come closer to these creatures, and hopefully begin the change to a better understanding of the worth of these animals and the need to conserve their habitat. Signage giving information about the biology, geographic distribution and rarity of the animals is provided.

2. Formal Environmental Education.
In 1998 the Rainforest Habitat initiated the introduction of an environmental education component into the primary school system of the Morobe Province. This was made possible through the generous assistance of the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York (WCS) and the New Zealand High Commission.

Most children in PNG do not get to the level in secondary school were environmental education currently begins, and yet these are the children that will ultimately have to make the decisions at village level concerning the future of their piece of rainforest. In PNG, unlike in many other developing countries, the vast majority of land is owned by village landowners, as is the forest and wildlife that lives there. It is their decision as to what it is used for, whether this is wholesale logging, traditional hunting or eco-tourism. The Rainforest Habitat is therefore heavily committed to making sure all children receive at least some environmental education before they leave school.

Every year over one hundred teachers come to the Rainforest Habitat on the University of Technology campus where educators from the WCS give expert training on how best to deliver the two levels of environmental education that now form a regular part of the Primary School curriculum. These teaching packages aim at grades four and six of the local school system and are heavily based on the hands-on, student/teacher interaction concept. Specific sections relating to Papua New Guinea have also been developed to add more local content to the classes. The Morobe Provincial Education Department has fully backed the project and allocated sufficient curriculum time to teach the two modules.

The Research and Conservation Foundation based in Crater Mountain and Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province has also embraced the project and now is spreading the environmental education packages to other Highland Provinces. Indications from the National Education Department are that much of the two courses are being used in the formulation of a nation-wide environmental education program for primary schools.

Several thousand children visit the Rainforest Habitat each year as part of their environmental learning processes, and BP PNG sponsors these visits.

3. University Student Training.
As the Rainforest Habitat is owned by, and situated on the University of Technology campus, it is also used by several of the faculties as a venue for teaching. Staff of the Rainforest Habitat also deliver courses such as Entomology and PNG Fauna to university students.

4. Training.
The Rainforest Habitat holds the largest zoological collection in Papua New Guinea, and is committed to improving both zoo husbandry and exhibit standards in all animal-exhibiting facilities throughout the country. With the help of organisations such as the Smithsonian National Zoo of Washington, the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York and ARAZPA (Australasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquaria) the RFH hosts zoo biology and husbandry courses for industry workers all over the country. Through a workshop facilitated by ARAZPA the RFH has become involved with the national Office of Environment and Conservation in formulating minimum standards for those institutions exhibiting wild animals in PNG.