‘Project Penguin’ is a Conservation Education Program delivered by Taronga Zoo’s Learning Centre in partnership with the Northern Beaches Learning Alliance.
For six weeks, school students learn everything about the Little Penguins that live in the local area, becoming youth ambassadors for the locally threatened species. This year the program has over 750 students from 10 schools in the Northern Peninsula region. Public Schools include: Manly Village, Manly Vale, Manly West, Curl Curl North, Harbord and Beacon Hill. Their high school mentors are from: Manly Selective, Balgowlah Boys, Mackellar Girls and Cromer.
The Primary School students, with their High School mentors, will undertake a range of activities aimed to increase their knowledge of the Little Penguins, threats to the colony and positive actions that they and the public can take to protect the species.
As a culmination of the program the students start their own community education program by getting their conservation messages out to the public. Taronga Zoo will be showcasing the students’ work at an EXPO on Thursday 28th June. Following the EXPO their work will be displayed in various community locations within the Northern beaches area.
Follow the journey of these students and their efforts to protect the Little Penguins of Manly, as they share their experiences over the next few weeks in their Penguin blogs.
Now in its sixth year, Project Penguin is run with the support of the Sydney Harbour Parks and Wildlife, Manly Environment Centre, and various Zoo experts and community volunteers in the Manly district.
Project penguin is proudly sponsored by Landcare, NSW Department of Education and Training and Catholic Education Office.