#NatureForAll On World Otter Day - Educating Children, Teachers On Lake Nokoue
By: Fatai AINA, AMAF Benin
Our Organisation Amis de l’Afrique Francophone- Bénin (AMAF-BENIN) celebrated World Otter Day on Wednesday 31 May 2017 in Sô-Ava on Lake Nokoué.
The Public Primary School of Sô-Ava Center served as the site for this awareness-raising campaign. It was attended by about 300 schoolchildren and 14 teachers.
The goal is to educate and educate teachers and children about the conservation importance of otters and their habitats, including the otter White (Aonyx capensis) and the spotted otter (Lutra maculicollis), and the benefits this can provide for the locality and the country in general.
All the children recognized the Otter species they call in their local language Toffin "Djidjê" and they confirmed that their parents hunted otters as game species and for use in the traditional pharmacopoeia. Children and teachers have also acknowledged that the size of the Otter species has decreased in the area and encourages that environmental and conservation education activities be carried out and multiplied in order to increase local communities' awareness of The conservation of the otters. The children promised to bring the information to their parents.
In addition to educating children and teachers on the conservation of otter species, we have promoted the International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF), NatureForAll and our Organization AMAF-BENIN. We promised teachers that we will develop and start a future teacher training program in schools on Lake Nokoué, on the concept of environmental education based on the conservation of otters and their habitats in their range in the South of Benin, with the support of the International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) and of NatureForAll.