Build Cambodia's First Nature Discovery Center

Over the last few months, the whole team at Fauna in Focus has been hard at work finishing up a bunch of exciting new projects at the Nature Discovery Center of Cambodia. Since opening our doors, we have had over 600 Cambodian student visitors. We have run over 40 unique environmental educaiton programs and training workshops in our Jungle Lab Classroom, and have completed nearly 15 different interactive educational exhibits and displays. 

The Youth Conservation Leadership Program: The focus of our Environmental Educaiton efforts durin September - December at The Nature Discovery Center has been our new YCLP, or Youth Conservation Leadership Program. This training course selcted 15 young conservation leaders who applied from the various conservation and eco-friendly projects based in Siem Reap. The aim of YCLP is to build better conservation leaders by providing real-world skills in project managment and administration, graphic design, photography and vide, social media, teacher training and education methods, and a solid foundation of wildlife conservation and science skills. Funded by the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, this workshop meets twice per week for intensive training sessions. Also included were several field expeditions to allow our YCLP students to work alongside and learn from various conservaiton projects in the field. This included a full day at ACCB wildlfie rescue center, learning the ins and outs of wildlfie rehabilitaiton, and BeTreed Adventures, where students learned and put to the test new skills with GPS, mapping and orienteering. In December and January, YCLP students will be putting their newfound leadership skills to the test by designing their own event to be held at the Nature Discovery Center. 

The Learning Garden: At the Nature Discovery Center we have nearly completed work on our learning garden. Wild orchids and other plants have been gathered from around the country to be cultivated and studies at The Nature Discovery Center. Our staff is working with local and international experts to identify and label all the species currently in our garden. We are also designing a short Nature Walk to allow students and visitors to explore our small garden while learning about the local flora and fauna in a fun and engaging atmosphere. We have compelted construciton of our mini-Mekong River, as well as the superstructure for our outdoor learning classroom. Soon this will be outfitted with picnic tables and work benches, giving us a place to have students conduct more messy work, such as planting trees, learning how to make compost, or styduing soil organics.