“In the end, we conserve what we love, we love what we understand and we will understand what we have been taught.” This is the famous phrase of the Senegalese Baba Dioum, pronounced at the General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, back in 1968, and which has transcended decades later to highlight the importance of conserving nature and its biodiversity; an objective that centres such as Bioparc Fuengirola support, not only with the conservation and protection of the species it houses, but also by disseminating and making known these animals, their habitats and the threats they face.
To this end, Bioparc Fuengirola is launching its new educational offering for schools for another year. offer committed to changing attitudes and creating environmental awareness, through a comprehensive educational program adapted to different educational levels.
Teachers will be able to offer their students the opportunity to learn in a real classroom open to nature, where they can discover some of the most endangered species, as well as their natural habitats: the planet's rainforests. To motivate and make all schoolchildren aware of the responsibility they have for their future conservation, The offer includes different formats of guided tours, workshops, meetings, technical visits and educational games. Resources to choose from that can be completed with a lunch in the jungle or the use of audio guides, among others.
Around 70.000 students have visited the park and enjoyed these resources.
In the last three school years, Around 70.000 students have had the opportunity to enjoy unique resources, learning how to preserve nature with these visits. Every year, the Bioparc Fuengirola Education Department, made up of professionals in Education, Biology and Conservation, works to adapt the park's school educational programs to the needs of the teaching staff.
Furthermore, This year they are resuming the 'Meetings with Teachers', free days in which teachers will visit the park together with members of the education department, who will inform them about the contents of the educational offer, news and visits to be made, and will answer their questions and suggestions. Any interested teacher can attend these meetings, upon registration.
New habitats to discover
Schoolchildren, aged 3 to 18, not only They not only enjoy direct observation of surprising species, but also learn to respect nature with storytellers, participate in fun educational games adapted to the age range of each group or experience, first-hand, a wide range of biological samples that serve as support on this journey to knowledge through the different habitats recreated by Bioparc Fuengirola: the island of Madagascar, equatorial Africa, Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific islands and, new for 2024, Central and South America following in the footsteps of Elcano on the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Bioparc Fuengirola, committed to its educational mission as a driving force to change attitudes and raise awareness, updates its educational program so that, in this school year, the centers have the opportunity to include in their school calendar a trip to the most endangered tropical forests. Thus, Bioparc Fuengirola becomes a large open classroom 365 days a year in which to complement the teaching programs.
