WITH the aim of educating Guyanese youths about the country’s vast ecosystems, the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS) will be animating its findings from a recent survey conducted in one of Guyana’s mangrove ecosystems, the Barima-Mora Passage in Region One (Barima-Waini).

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Annette Arjoon-Martins, who heads the GMCS, highlighted that the Barima-Mora Passage is one of the most intact mangrove ecosystems to be found in the country.

In fact, its population stretches beyond mangroves, as it is home to a number of wildlife species, rich biodiversity and Indigenous culture.

In 2021, GMCS commenced a study in collaboration with a few environmental allies. The focus was mammalian biodiversity, and involved the monitoring of the medium and large-bodied mammals that live in the area.

The Barima-Mora Passage Mammals Survey (BMPMS) was a historical one, as it covered an area in Guyana that had never before been studied for its biodiversity.

Arjoon-Martins stated that after a successful survey, GMCS, through its environmental awareness programme and several collaborations, was able to publish 5,000 books on the Barima-Mora, which were distributed to several schools in the Region One.

The book was written by two young marine biologists, Felicia Collins and Sarah Singh.

“The Barima-Mora Passage book was written by these two young female marine biologists, and we printed 5,000 copies, which are the foundational pillar in the environmental education programme, because these are distributed to all the primary schools in the Barima-Mora Passage, and also the two secondary schools in Region One,” Arjoon-Martins said.

She noted that while the book exists, the aim is to create another medium to relate to children.

“While the kids would have had the books, we are animating every chapter, and the reason we have chosen to animate every chapter is because the Ministry of Education has installed very large television screens in each classroom in these primary schools. We thought that rather than go and share out posters and hand out brochures, let’s just get the animation to make learning fun and interesting for the kids,” the conservationist said.

GMCS is collaborating with Lance Hinds, of Brain Street, to shape the characters for the first animation, which is scheduled to be completed by March.

“So, every two months, we will go there with a new animated chapter, so that way the kids could be excited about seeing the animations, and seeing the mangroves and the crabs. Right now, we are shaping the main characters for the animations,” Arjoon-Martins said.

In addition to animation, GMCS will also provide children with the opportunity to explore the Barima-Mora Passage with the use of kid-friendly drones.

“We have purchased some kid-friendly drones, where we will be using them as an incentive to have the kids prepare themselves to answer the most questions correct about the mangrove ecosystems, and then their reward would be how to learn to the fly the drones,” she added.

Meanwhile, to widen its reach, every animated episode created by GMCS will be shared with the Guyana Learning Channel.

“All of the material that we produce will be shared with Guyana’s learning channel, so all of the kids in Guyana’s other regions that have access to the ‘Learning Channel’ will be seeing and learning from our animated series.

“So, we have partnered with our Ministry of Education to ensure that any content that we produce will be shared with the learning channels which will allow for a wider national audience,” Arjoon-Martin said.