By Bakah Derick
The Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW) has ended an environmental education session targeting children in Oku particularly around the protected Kilum-Ijim Forest area.
The session on the 17th of December 2021 brought together 26 community children (10 boys and 16 girls) with focus on Bushfires with specific attention on causes, consequences and prevention.
The interactive program permitted the children to identify causes of bushfires amongst them, burning of farms through slash-and-burn method (ankara), burning of bushes to hunt animals, poor harvesting of honey, smoking in and around the forest and burning of vegetation to get new grass for animals. According to the Children, they were able to name these because they see it happen in their community.
CAMGEW representatives then elaborated more on the causes following their mastery of the subject on the ground.
"We have learned that bushfire can result to the burning of trees, beehives, fruits, vegetables and animals which are found in the forest. Many people have died because of bushfire and many farms have been destroyed also because of bushfire." A child said.
To be engage the Children in the fight against bushfires, they reminded that bushfires make their parents poor and can't be able to pay their schools fees, but books and take care of their families.
CAMGEW encouraged the children never to engage in bushfire and also to ask their parents and guardian never to involve in activities that lead to bushfire.
Coming during the Christmas season, the Children learn songs in preparation for Christmas and had sometime to play.