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Mass Media Community Outreach: Using the National Radio for Biodiversity Conservation in Lao PDR.
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Mass Media Community Outreach: Using the National Radio for Biodiversity Conservation in Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Santi Saypanya, Troy Hansel and Renae Stenhouse
Abstract
Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), a developing country located within the Indochina Biodiversity Hotspot, has a rural population base that is reliant on natural resources. The government recognizes a need to disseminate information to the public about conserving natural resources and biodiversity. Due to limited media infrastructure print and television, media are not viable ways to reach rural people. The public prefers listening to the radio for obtaining news, information and entertainment. Recognizing this, WCS in cooperation with the National Radio, created a radio program called Friends of Wildlife. Aired weekly, this thirty-minute program aims to share information on conserving the country’s biodiversity while meeting the needs of people, both in urban and rural areas. Each weekly program addresses high priority problems and threats to biodiversity and integrates conservation messages with entertaining songs. Additionally, one-minute ‘conservation spots’ air six times daily during regular radio programming. To evaluate the effectiveness of the radio program, staff members used structured interviewing techniques to interview 2,380 people in five provinces. Survey groups consisted of government officials, traders, rural villagers and urban dwellers. We found that 67% of the respondents listen to the radio; 18% of respondents listen to the Friend’s of Wildlife program, and more rural villagers listen than any other demographic group. Qualitative questions revealed that people gain new information from the program
BACKGROUNDLaos is internationally recognized for its biodiversity (Berkmuller, Evans et al. 1995; Duckworth, Salter et al. 1999; Robichaud, Marsh et al. 2001). A comprehensive ranking of Ecoregions by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) identified the country has having four global priority ecosystems. This combined variety calls for appropriate conservation responses (Baltzer, Dao et al. 2001).
The Lao government has acknowledged the importance of biodiversity and environmental health by making natural resource conservation one of “three pillars” of national development (Anonymous 2004). However, villagers throughout the Lao PDR still rely heavily on non-timber forest products for daily survival (Dechaineux 2001). Quality of life is also declining as a result of over exploitation. It has grown to take precedence over traditional sustainable consumption.
If livelihoods and resources are to be maintained, more sustainable use of natural resources must be recovered. However, conserving natural resources is a cross-disciplinary task, reaching far beyond forestry into subject areas such as education, economics, sociology, anthropology and even philosophy. In the Lao PDR, this has resulted in responsibility for conservation activities being spread across many government ministries and departments.
The Lao National Radio Station (LNRS) is one institution charged with educating both children and adults about the importance natural resource conservation. Undertaken through the LNRS, Friends of Wildlife (FW) was a series of radio programs implemented to help fulfil
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| | Authors: Saypanya, Santi. and Stenhouse, Renae. |
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Mass Media Community Outreach: Using the National Radio for Biodiversity
Conservation in Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Santi Saypanya, Troy Hansel and Renae Stenhouse
Abstract
Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), a developing country located within the Indochina
Biodiversity Hotspot, has a rural population base that is reliant on natural resources. The
government recognizes a need to disseminate information to the public about conserving
natural resources and biodiversity. Due to limited media infrastructure print and television,
media are not viable ways to reach rural people. The public prefers listening to the radio for
obtaining news, information and entertainment. Recognizing this, WCS in cooperation with
the National Radio, created a radio program called Friends of Wildlife. Aired weekly, this
thirty-minute program aims to share information on conserving the country’s biodiversity
while meeting the needs of people, both in urban and rural areas. Each weekly program
addresses high priority problems and threats to biodiversity and integrates conservation
messages with entertaining songs. Additionally, one-minute ‘conservation spots’ air six times
daily during regular radio programming. To evaluate the effectiveness of the radio program,
staff members used structured interviewing techniques to interview 2,380 people in five
provinces. Survey groups consisted of government officials, traders, rural villagers and urban
dwellers. We found that 67% of the respondents listen to the radio; 18% of respondents listen
to the Friend’s of Wildlife program, and more rural villagers listen than any other demographic
group. Qualitative questions revealed that people gain new information from the program
BACKGROUND
Laos is internationally recognized for its biodiversity (Berkmuller, Evans et al. 1995;
Duckworth, Salter et al. 1999; Robichaud, Marsh et al. 2001). A comprehensive ranking of
Ecoregions by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) identified the country has having four
global priority ecosystems. This combined variety calls for appropriate conservation responses
(Baltzer, Dao et al. 2001).
The Lao government has acknowledged the importance of biodiversity and environmental
health by making natural resource conservation one of “three pillars” of national development
(Anonymous 2004). However, villagers throughout the Lao PDR still rely heavily on non-
timber forest products for daily survival (Dechaineux 2001). Quality of life is also declining
as a result of over exploitation. It has grown to take precedence over traditional sustainable
consumption.
If livelihoods and resources are to be maintained, more sustainable use of natural resources
must be recovered. However, conserving natural resources is a cross-disciplinary task,
reaching far beyond forestry into subject areas such as education, economics, sociology,
anthropology and even philosophy. In the Lao PDR, this has resulted in responsibility for
conservation activities being spread across many government ministries and departments.
The Lao National Radio Station (LNRS) is one institution charged with educating both
children and adults about the importance natural resource conservation. Undertaken through
the LNRS, Friends of Wildlife (FW) was a series of radio programs implemented to help fulfil
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