Moulding urban children towards environmental stewardship: the Table Mountain National Park experience

Abstract

The environmental integrity of many urban protected areas in developing countries is at risk and the important mission to reach out to people living close to them provides a special opportunity to spread the conservation message. Guided visitation to urban national parks with the necessary and appropriate interpretation can contribute towards environmental education in general and can also be the point of departure in nurturing environmental stewardship. The research reported here focuses on the evaluation of a three-day nature-learning experience by schoolchildren to Table Mountain National Park. Data were collected through pre- and post-visit questionnaires and supplemented by informal discussions with learners and teachers. It was found that the environmental interpretive programme had a minimal impact on the learners’ environmental knowledge, it had a reasonable impact on the pro-environmental attitudes but the findings also indicated that the behavioural impacts were limited. Other important findings were related to behaviours of learners towards environmental issues in general and critical areas in simple pro-environmental behaviour that could be emphasised in future edutainment experiences to contribute more substantially towards moulding stewardship behaviour among young school children.

Keywords:

• developing countries
• environmental education
• urban national parks
• conservation message

Notes

**Significant at 1% (p < 0.01).

**Significant at 1% (p < 0.01).

1. Ecosystem services: ‘Benefits obtained from ecosystems such as food, fuel and fibre and genetic sources; benefits from the regulation of ecosystem processes such as climate regulation, disease and flood control and detoxification; and cultural non-material benefits obtained from ecosystems such as benefits of a spiritual, recreational, aesthetic, inspirational, educational, community and symbolic nature’ (National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, Act no 57 of 2003)’.

2. A residential EE programme refers to a three-day (or longer) environmental experience in a national park or at a nature centre where learners will stay over.

3. Pick n Pay is a large food-and-convenience chain store in South Africa.

4. A ‘green bag’ is a durable, affordable and reusable shopping bag. The main purpose of this bag is to discourage the use of plastic bags.