Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Whales in the Schools

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BUENOS AIRES, Sep 1 2007 (IPS) - A plan for children to develop “a comprehensive appreciation of whales and their environment” will begin in late September in five schools of the southern Argentine province of Chubut. Along its Atlantic coast, Chubut has the main birthing zone of an enormous population of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis).

“The idea is to begin there, because many students in that province, due to distance or socioeconomic conditions, have never seen the ocean or a whale,” Roxana Steimberg, of the Institute of Whale Conservation, the promoter of the effort, told Tierramérica.

The program also offers material for primary school teachers and students, and next year will be extended to 20 schools in Chubut and to other provinces.