Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - New nature educational library open for wetlands

New nature educational library open for wetlands

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
A BirdLife Cambodia official offers learning materials to primary school students around the Anlong Pring Protected Area on Wednesday. BIRDLIFE

New nature educational library open for wetlands

A library to educate the youth about cranes and wetlands was launched this past weekend in the Anlung Pring Protected Landscape in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district, where the main target group for the library is located.

According to NatureLife Cambodia – a conservation organisation established with support from BirdLife International and financial support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund – the library was established with the aim of providing information about the importance of the protected landscape area and the identity and ecology of cranes and various water birds.

“The target group for this outreach education is students from six primary and secondary schools around the protected area. On February 12, the library welcomed its first guests – 23 children from Thmorberk Primary School,” it said.

The children spent half a day watching educational films on cranes and conservation, listening to presentations by park rangers, painting and colouring illustrations of water birds, and helping to clean up the wetland conservation area.

Content image - Phnom Penh Post

“Studying outside of the classroom is an opportunity for young people to gain knowledge and experience at the same time,” said NatureLife.

Kampot provincial Department of Environment director Eng Polo supported the establishment of the library, saying it would be an excellent resource to train local students and teach them to understand the importance of the wildlife in the area.

“If the younger generation is aware of the importance of conserving these animals, they will grow up learning that it is wrong to hunt them or buy their meat,” he told The Post on February 17.

He added that he would investigate whether there was anything his department could do to increase cooperation with local schools, or if there were ways to expand the library’s reach to students who lived further away.

“Libraries are ideal places for spreading knowledge. We cannot wait to educate adults – the younger generation understands that environmental devastation comes from adults, not children,” he said.

According to Polo, the number of cranes in the Anlung Pring Protected Landscape has increased this year.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to