Using video and theater to increase knowledge and change attitudes—Why are gorillas important to the world and to Congo?

Abstract

Applying environmental education in primate range countries is an important long-term activity to stimulate pro-conservation behavior. Within captive settings, mega-charismatic species, such as great apes are often used to increase knowledge and positively influence attitudes of visitors. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term video and theater program developed for a Western audience and adapted to rural people living in two villages around Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo. We assessed the knowledge gain and attitude change using oral evaluation in the local language (N = 111). Overall pre-program knowledge about Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) was high. Detailed multivariate analysis of pre-program knowledge revealed differences in knowledge between two villages and people with different jobs while attitudes largely were similar between groups. The short-term education program was successful in raising knowledge, particularly of those people with less pre-program knowledge. We also noted an overall significant attitude improvement. Our data indicate short-term education programs are useful in quickly raising knowledge as well improving attitudes. Furthermore, education messages need to be clearly adapted to the daily livelihood realities of the audience, and multi-variate analysis can help to identify potential target groups for education programs.

Through the eyes of children: Drawings as an evaluation tool for children's understanding about endangered Mexican primates

“…Kuhar et al () have emphasized the importance of evaluation in conservation education programs if we are to understand which activities contribute to conservation success. The most commonly used assessment method is the questionnaire or survey (Breuer, Mavinga, Evans & Lukas, ; Kuhar et al, ; Rakotomamonjy et al, ). And, although Dolins et al () reported that comic and storybooks are useful methods for conveying conservation and ecological knowledge, they indicated that, during the evaluation, “many questions were not answered because children required greater thought and the ability to write” (Dolins et al, : 401).…”

Evidence-based conservation education in Mexican communities: Connecting arts and science

“…Accordingly, it is important to test different educational techniques to include cultural factors, gender diversity, and different learning styles. For instance, applying educational techniques (including evaluations) that work for an audience from a high-income country might not necessarily lead to the expected change in a low-income country [4]. In Mexico, ESD is poorly implemented in the school curricula, and arts education is rarely taught [25].…”

“…Our study shows that considering multiple intelligences and senses can improve the effectiveness of CE programs. Not only the intervention, but also the evaluation should also be inclusive to all learners and indigenous cultures, since in primate CE assessment is commonly done through questionnaires [4,29,60]. Drawings have been an excellent tool for evaluating the effectiveness of CE programs, as well as an artistic approach that evaluated the children's knowledge on black howler monkeys.…”

“…Current research advocates that integrating art and science education could engage learners into creating ingenious projects and inspire them to articulate science in different ways [3]. Nevertheless, the integration of arts in everyday science teaching has been little explored, especially in the field of biodiversity conservation [4]. Here, we present a case study in which an approach of education through arts was used to achieve primate conservation education within a formal schooling system in southeastern Mexico.…”

“…Conservation efforts should also encourage local participation and incorporate local knowledge systems to inform culturally-relevant educational programs that inspire respect towards primates and their habitats in culturally-relevant ways [14,15]. Additionally, these animals are charismatic species, which facilitates the implementation of conservation strategies [4,16,17], helping to reach wider goals in biodiversity conservation. However, the strategy of charismatic and flagship species is more effective when target species have links to peoples' cultural identity [16].…”