Environmental Education Advocacy Program in Haa

As part of Community-based Sustainable Tourism (CBST) Project, Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN) in collaboration with Nature Conservation Division (NCD) and with financial support from Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund (KNCF) and United Nation Development Program (UNDP) conducted an Environmental Education Advocacy Program (EEAP) in Haa from October 4-5, 2017.

The program was conducted with the objectives to promote awareness on environmental issues and to ensure environmentally responsible behavior, to provide an understanding of the impacts of their actions and behavioral patterns on environment; and to increase sensitivity, concern and appreciation of environment.

The program focused on national policies of water and waste, community management of water and sanitation, park policies and natural resource management, and issues pertaining to waste and its management techniques.

More than 40 CBST homestay beneficiaries, local leaders, business representatives, civil servants and school nature club coordinators partook in the program.

The two days program ended with a mass cleaning in Haa, which also tried to spread waste awareness among the local communities. Business owners in Haa municipality joined the team for cleaning campaign where approximately 500 kilograms of waste consisting of pet bottles, plastic waste etc. were collected.

The program could not have been a success without the technical support from National Environment Commission (NEC), Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve (JKSNR) and Clean Bhutan. RSPN would like to thank these stakeholders and also Haa Dzongkhag administration for their continued support.

Reported by: Khachi Wangmo & Tsheten Dorji, Project Officers