CEPA // CEPA Best Practices Database Project

CEPA Best Practices Database Project

The project below was submitted by the organization below in response to the notification issued by the Executive Secretary in December 2003. The Secretariat does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information it contains. Any questions about the project should be addressed to the organization which reported the project


General Description
Title		Dalaw Turo: A Tool for Information, Education and Communication Campaign on Biodiversity
Status		Ongoing
From		1992
To		2005
Country(ies)		Philippines
Region(s)

Participating Organization(s)
Lead Organization(s)		Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
Type of Implementing Agency(ies)		Governments
Main Target Groups or Audience

Funding
Source of Funding		Other
Funding Agency		funding institutionalized through the DENR

Goals and Objectives
Overall Goal		Dalaw Turo, which comes from two Filipino words that mean "to visit" (dalaw) and "to teach" (turo) is an innovatice educational tool for teaching and promoting environmental messages on nature conservation. It is a non-traditional, non-formal, and participatory approach in raising public awareness on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. It makes use of various forms of folk media such as street theatre, creative workshops, and exhibits, as well as other activities like ecological tours and games, to make learning about the environment audience-friendly and effective.
Specific Objectives		General To educate the various stakeholders, especially upland dwellers, and to enable them to participate in the conservation of protected areas and biological diversity. To increase knowledge, inculcate environmental ethics, and broaden the involvement and participation of various stakeholders in the campaign for environmental conservation and sustainable development. Specific To promote awareness of enivronmental conservation, specifically biodiversity, through Dalaw Turo programs, among the DENR stakeholders, such as forest occupants, local leaders, and school teachers and the youth. To train DENR personel in the provincial and community levels who could serve as Dalaw Turo performers. To produce and disseminate IEC materials on environmental conservation and biodiversity. To encourage local people's participation in disseminating information on environmental conservation and biodiversity.

Scope and Activities
National Level Activities		presentations of plays as tools to teach biodiversity conservation. presentation of excerpts of these plays at workshops on biodiversity consservation using acting exercises excerpted from the plays as icebreakers, energizers and training modules during workshops. using a core group, training regional counterparts to hold their own workshops and extend the knowledge of the methodology.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned
Outcomes		The DT core group trained regional counterparts nationwide through the Salin-Turo module: school children and community residents were made audience/participants during the outreach program. In the process, Dalaw Turo was able to create linkages not only with schools and local communities but also encourage participation of local government units and non-government organizations (NGOs) What began as an experiment to teach an innovative environmental teaching methodology in 1992 quickly took off from four pilot regions to all 15 regions nationwide. Since then, DT has been institutionalized. Through the years, the group was able to train 543 regional counterparts and to bring the IEC campaign on biodiversity to about 55,839 students in at least 460 schools mostly at the primary level nationwide.
References		/doc/case-studies/cepa/cepa-2004-00007-en.pdf