Welcome to TRASS - Terrestrial Restoration Action Society of Seychelles
In collaboration with Gaea Seychelles, TRASS aims through this project, to create a platform to forge current and future generations through a transformative leaning programme consisting of several activities..
The Little Explorers Club ; an educational and awareness-oriented kids club has been created which seeks to encourage children to ‘get in touch’ with nature, through an inquisitive lens and meaningful interactions. The rationale prompting the launching of the club was that there is a general perception that many children in today’s societies are not engaging with the natural world. The reasons are multi-factorial; from changes in cultures, less available playing grounds, less interest from the children themselves and more technological advances that provide an alternative to playing outside. International research suggests that less interaction with nature during different stages of childhood development can lead to a level of disconnect and lack of stewardship towards one’s surrounding. Nature provides countless opportunities for discovery, creativity, problem-solving, and STEM education. Interacting with natural environments allows children to learn by doing and experimenting with ideas. In nature, children think, question, and make hypotheses — thereby developing inquisitive minds.
Inherently, given Seychelles’ tropical climate and unique biodiversity, our country offers the perfect opportunity for children to wander out and about. Moreover, the club is also bringing ‘citizen science’ into play, where the children can learn how to collect and analyse data that could essentially be used in science projects and the site management in general.
With the motto ‘Know your surroundings’ the club is targeting kids from the ages of 4 to 12 years old, prompting them to explore their surroundings and question the functioning of the natural world. The guiding principle is to use our natural surroundings as a classroom and employ interactive learning techniques to educate them about the different ecosystems. The approach is holistic one where instead of singling out specific species, the whole ecosystem will be considered. Such an approach ensures that the totality of the habitat is valued and their importance equally highlighted.
The club is operated by members of Gaea Seychelles, comprising of qualified and experienced members and associates in the environmental field, sustainability, natural science and communication and awareness. It can therefore draw from a large pool of required expertise to undertake the different sessions with the students. The club also has close working relationships with a vast network of professionals in various fields, who have already expressed interest and desire to join in and collaborate, in order to share their knowledge and expertise in their respective fields.
At this juncture, the Little Explorers Club will be part and parcel of contributing towards the project objectives of ‘enhancing the understanding on the importance of ecological rehabilitation and ecosystem services’. It will serve as a platform to showcase the on-going activities and the project sites will provide the ‘in-situ’ classrooms for live interactions, practical sessions and first-hand experiences in various ecosystems. Although the club targets a specific age group, older students will also be encouraged to join and participate in the activities.
Secondly, we have set up a ‘Photography and Filming competition for the Youths’ to engage 12-18 years olds in nature. This has a similar approach to the ‘Little Explorers Club’ but targeting older kids. We live in a cyber world where gadgets like smart phone are very important for kids. Through the competition, the Youths will document any aspects of the project and the natural environment through short videos or still photography where they can also learn filming and editing techniques e.g. impact of climate change on coral reef, impact of pollution and waste on mangroves and seagrasses, importance of marine habitats for wildlife and livelihoods, interdependence of ecosystems, importance of marine and coastal rehabilitation etc. The audio-visuals are produced in the local context by the Youths for the Youths of Seychelles via a series of competitions. Participants are rewarded with fun prizes such as island trips, educational nature trails followed by a picnic, fun educational activities plus talks by motivational speakers from e.g. IThrive, Care Club etc.
The finished products will support the school curriculum, photos printed into books to be used by the schools, compilation of a ‘Resource Bank’ of materials/study aids for teachers to use and the production of an ‘Online gallery of local photos and videos where anyone can contribute to, providing exposures to the owners too. The audio-visuals will also be shared on the worldwide web e.g. TRASS and Gaea websites and You Tube.
We intend to engage 200 youths through the ‘Little Explorers Club’ and the ‘Photography and Filming competition for the Youths’.