Abstract

The success of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) relies heavily on the attitudes of the local communities and how they per-ceive the strategies and plans put forward by Government. In the study area (Molinere-Beausejour Marine Protected Area (MBMPA), Grenada) numerous public awareness and outreach activities have been implemented to build support for the MPA for over five years. However, there’s still an alarmingly large proportion of the communities that lack a full under-standing of the purpose and importance of an MPA in that area. Studies suggest that children play an important role in de-veloping a community’s understanding of the environment because they can share information learnt with their families and communities. To create awareness about the MPA, a pilot program, “The Reef Guardian School Program” was designed following a participatory approach comprising of classroom and field activities. The main objective of this program was to improve the knowledge of students and create awareness about MPA management. The program was implemented in two schools: Uganda Martyrs R.C. School and Happy Hill Secondary School. This paper provides a critical overview of the program through the production of a collaborative art project which reflects student’s views on “Marine Protected Areas”. The researchers supervised the collaborative art work. Feedback was also gathered from parents through questionnaire sur-vey. The findings of this study will help improve education programs on Marine Protected Area in Grenada and elsewhere in Caribbean.

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