Educational Buses

About

Mobile environmental education programs

Project Status: Completed | 1992 -1997

Collaborators/Funders

Paradise Park, Andrew Greenwood, RARE Centre, Governments of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica and Paraguay and their Forestry Divisions, Graham Bee, Lloyd Burchell, Rod Hall, Michael Iversen, Ken Linderman, Guido Rojas, Margaret Ryan, David Waugh & the Staff of: The British Embassy Asuncion; British Airways; Calin Bath - Paignton Zoological & Botanical Gardens, Marilyn Bennett - Deputy Head of Mission, Asuncion; David Jeggo - Jersey Wildlife PreservationTrust, David Lawson - Freelance Photographer, Roger Wilkinson - The North of England Zoological Society, Hoy Newspapers - Asuncion, Philip Craig - Artist

Educational buses a first in conservation

Progress and outcomes: The original idea for the World Parrot Trust buses came from Paul Butler of RARE Conservation, who asked if the Trust could provide a parrot bus for the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The Trust provided the Jaquot Express, which was to travel all over the island visiting schools and other locations and telling the story of the endangered St. Lucia parrot (Amazona versicolor) and what had to be done to save it from extinction. St. Lucia Amazon populations have been affected by the loss of crucial breeding areas over the island.

The team at Paradise Park, led by David Woolcock and Nick Reynolds, bought a used bus and fitted it out with working models, video programmes and other educational aids, then shipped it out on a banana boat and handed it over to staff of the island's forestry department.

It was a great success, and resulted in similar buses being provided for the neighbouring islands of Dominica and St. Vincent for the Red-necked and St. Vincent Amazons, and also for use in Paraguay in South America. This remarkable achievement resulted in Paradise Park and the World Parrot Trust being chosen by BBC Wildlife Magazine as winners of the 'Zoo Conservation Award for Excellence'.

PsittaScene Vol. 5 Nov. 1993
PsittaScene Vol. 6 Feb. 1994

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