ETHIOPIA 

At Ensessa Kotteh, Born Free’s Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre, our education programme offers both out-reach activities to local schools as well as centre-based learning for schools, nature clubs and community members. 

Nature Clubs:
Working with local schools the programme combines theoretical learning with practical activities, covering topics that include habitats, biodiversity, food webs and animal welfare. Supporting the National Curriculum and developing a board understanding of the natural world, its importance and the need for its protection.

Centre-based learning:
Small groups of students or members of the local community are able to visit our education centre to learn about our work and Ethiopia’s unique and important natural heritage. 

All visits must be booked in advance, if you would like to enquire about educational sessions at Ensessa Kotteh please contact Million on million@bornfree.org.uk  (please note Ensessa Kotteh is not open to the general public).

Team: Million Genta, Education Office
 

KENYA

In Kenya, our education programme focuses on school based conservation clubs around Amboseli National Park and Meru Conservation Area as well as working with communities in these areas through a holistic conservation education approach, supporting both people and wildlife.

Conservation clubs:
With a teaching outline closely linked to the Kenyan National Curriculum this programme seeks to combine lectures talks, the use of films and videos, art, creative thinking, drama, songs, dance and essay writing with practical activities and challenges. These include tree planting, identification of animals in the immediate environment, and visits to protected areas that conserve wildlife.

Community engagement:
“While the wildlife led us there, the people and communities have driven us to adapt our methods and build lasting partnerships. We aim to leave behind a generation that will value wild animals as we do”. - Phoebe Odhiang

If we are to enable lasting change for wildlife, we must holistically address both the human and environmental challenges faced by the communities living alongside wild places. Hand in hand with wildlife conservation discussions, we can start to help communities find their own solutions to their most significant challenges, with the aim to reducing the barriers to behaviour change while imparting the necessary knowledge to change attitudes and foster a love of the natural world.

Team: Phoebe Odhiang, Education Programmes Leader; Charles Njoroge, Education Officer Meru; Elizabeth Yiambaine, Education Officer Amboseli

Partners: www.schoolsforkenya.co.uk

SOUTH AFRICA

In South Africa, our education programme, based out of our two big cat sanctuaries within Shamwari Private Game Reserve, gives children an opportunity to learn about Born Free and its principals, through the stories of our rescued cats, and to see the amazing wildlife of the Eastern Cape. Through this programme, Born Free also reaches out to local schools and communities.

Centre-based learning:
Visiting the centres offers students the opportunity to take part in a programme that delivers theoretical learning, information about our rescued cats (both their personal stories and their needs in the wild) followed by an opportunity to visit the Game Reserve itself. These sessions allow them to better understand where wildlife belongs.

Community engagement:
Our work with communities aims to build strong communities who are well-rounded, confident and fearless role models. Activities include both conservation education and human centred approaches to help support communities struggling with unemployment and a lack of opportunity.

Team: Sidney Clay, Education Officer, and Thembela Schoeman, Education Assistant
 

GLOBAL FRIENDS

Since 2003 our Global Friends programme has provided small grants to support the work of partner organisations. Reaching new audiences and supporting education work in countries in which we do not have a direct physical presence, increasing our reach and promoting local solutions to wildlife and human challenges. 
It is our belief that promoting tolerance and co-existence amongst communities living alongside wildlife – in environmentally fragile areas or areas supporting high biodiversity – enhances the long term success of any conservation efforts, and both wildlife and communities benefit. 

THE SIX PILLARS OF THIS WORK ARE:

• Reduce human-wildlife conflict
• Reduce poaching and improve attitude towards the protection of wildlife
• Promote sustainable resource management
• Protect ecosystem services
• Reduce pollution
• Encourage good animal care
   

THE CURRENT PARTNERS ARE:

• Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Uganda
• Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust, Zambia
• Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, Malawi
• Pole Pole Foundation, Democratic Republic of Congo
• Zambia Primate Project, Zambia 
   

PROGRAMME REPORTS:

Since 2017 partner schools in Kenya, Sri Lanka and South Africa have been supported through our direct outreach programmes to promote a co-ordinated country level approach. Read our latest reports here: 

GLOBAL FRIENDS REPORT 2019   GLOBAL FRIENDS REPORT 2018   GLOBAL FRIENDS REPORT 2017  
 

PARTNERSHIPS

In 2019, Born Free partnered with the British International Education Association’s International STEM Youth Innovation Competition. The theme of the competition was fighting extinction. It aimed to bring together and inspire educators and young people from around the world, highlighting the real-world application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills.