Program Targets      
Ongoing Projects

Fortunately, Bhutan has entered the new millenium with its natural inheritance largely intact. But the Kingdom cannot afford to be complacent. As tensions between development aspirations and conservation goals grow it is vital that people throughout the society are able to mitigate and minimize the harmful side-effects of important development activities.

Primary school children saying their morning
prayers

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By promoting environmental education and awareness, WWF and its partners can hope to make informed decisions and to recognize the potential negative consequences of trends such as industrialization, growing consumption and urbanization.

Environmental education (EE) already forms a part of the national school curriculum for younger children, and there is an Environmental Education Unit within the Department of Education. WWF Bhutan itself has been supporting EE for a number of years and many projects have been implement by WWF's national partner, the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN). Activities have included the establishment of a network of Nature Clubs in schools throughout Bhutan - designed to complement curricular activities and to promote "a whole school approach" to EE.

There is a need, however, to improve co-ordination between the various partners concerened with EE in Bhutan including WWF, RSPN, EE unit of the Department of Education, and the National Environment Commission (NEC). There is agreement about the need to develop a holistic National Environmental Education Strategy (NEES), with components focusing on each of the formal, co-curricular and non-formal education sectors. Additionally there is a need for better co-ordinated and more sustained public awareness raising activity.

Program Targets: