Our education and outreach programs focus on increasing awareness among red panda range communities, and the general public worldwide.
Communities living in and around red panda habitat are often marginalized and have inadequate educational opportunities. RPN provides this education through “forest guardian” workshops where participants receive educational training about the importance of red pandas to the eastern Himalayan ecosystem. Some workshop participants are hired as Forest Guardians who work within their communities to increase awareness of red pandas.
We developed a red panda conservation manual and are working with schools throughout the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung (PIT) corridor in integrating red panda conservation education into their curriculums. We provide training for teachers on how to prepare and teach red panda conservation lessons.
We have established Roots and Shoots groups, which includes 3,000 students from 29 local schools. We organize mini ecotrips for students of Roots and Shoots Groups and support them in publishing red panda bulletins in their schools.
Through FM radio broadcasts, red panda awareness workshops and distribution of red panda conservation posters and signs we have reached approximately 50,000 people in the east and 20,000 in central Nepal.
Every year, 5,000 students in schools throughout the PIT corridor celebrate International Red Panda Day (IRPD). IRPD is a day of global red panda celebration and education. 100,000 visitors at more than 60 zoos worldwide also participate in what has been declared as "the most important day for red pandas."