Marine Biologist Dr. Olga Belonovich has been using the translated Seabird Curriculum with kids on the Commander Islands. Here’s Olga’s report:
The Commander Islands Nature and Biosphere Reserve was established on the Commander Islands on April 23, 1993, and few weeks ago it celebrated its 25th birthday. The Reserve has a great website, and many of the pages are translated into English. Check out their story about collecting bird data on the uninhabited island of Medny.
The reserve includes whole Commander Islands and 30 miles water area. Hundreds of marine mammals and thousands of birds come here at summer time to feed in a productive areas.
The main goal of the reserve is to protect and conserve the fragile nature of the Commander Islands. Also, the reserve staff educate public in different Russian cities about the Commander Island Reserve its nature and wildlife. The educational work is also conducted on the Commander Islands, in Nikolskoe village, where about 700 people live permanently (see top photo). Every Saturday the reserve staff lead interactive lessons for the children on the islands. Up to 30 children of different ages (from 4 to 17 years old) participate in these lessons.
During some of the lessons, the Seabird Youth Network Seabird Curriculum was used to teach students about bird biology. Children learned what is the difference between marine and land birds, they also learned how plastic and other marine debris can kill birds and even “save” some toy-birds by sorting different type of garbage.
These lessons definitely positively influence the attitude of children towards the nature of their native islands!
