GuyExpo 2006, Environmental Messages in a Business Trade Fair
For four days at the Guyana Expo 2006, where in a business atmosphere WWF Guianas set up an environmental booth showcasing its conservation activities for Species and Marine Turtle Conservation, as well as the Protected Area, Sustainable Forest Management, and Gold Mining Impact Abatement Programs.
Over 5,000 people not only visited, but interacted in the WWF Guianas booth. Visitors were encouraged to answer questions, in order to "win" various environmental awareness prizes. This proved to be a highly effective way of drawing attention to the WWF species and forest conservation priorities and drew tremendous attention to the WWF booth and organization.Many persons spent 20-30 minutes at the booth waiting their turn to win a prize. As questions were read out loud and answers provided either by the audience or when this was not forthcoming, from WWF staff or volunteers, the waiting audience become the recipients of tremendous amount of conservation information.
Smart kids hung around for close to one hour to pick up as much information as possible, before taking their turn at the quiz bag (as the questions were of course, recycled and so the same questions were often repeated). A 10-minute TV special was made at the fair in which Jerrel Pinas, WWF Guianas Communications Officer, gave a brief overview of the programs of WWF Guianas, the items on display in the booth and the importance of nature conservation.
The primary objective of WWF Guianas at the Expo was to raise awareness of the public on WWF and its programmes of work in order to foster greater involvement in the conservation process. Education on species conservation with special emphasis on marine turtle protection, sustainable forest management and gold mining impact abatement was also a priority.
The event proved to be a wonderful experience for all and really helped to boost WWF's profile in Guyana, especially amongst school children and the working public.
