So what will I be doing, anyway?

What does "Environmental Education" entail in Morocco? Most of what I've found is pretty vague, but I got some nice insight from the Peace Corps' annual reports (aka: Congressional Budget Justification) over the last few years.

From 2004:
Based on a Volunteer activity analysis and in response to Morocco’s needs, the Peace Corps formally merged its agriculture program and its wildlife and environmental education program into a single environment project.

So I might be doing agriculture work. Good to know.

The new project promotes natural resource management and rural community development
with a focus on environmental awareness and sustainable development. Environment Volunteers have written and taught environmental curricula, conducted nature field trips,
introduced new technologies designed to promote conservation of natural resources (such as solar ovens), and assisted local authorities in systematic reforestation efforts.

Memo to self: read up on solar ovens. I have found a nifty idea for solar water purification, though. I'd envisioned some sort of chemistry set where solar energy is used to vaporize water, which could be condensed as distilled water in a sterilized bottle. Turns out it's a whole lot simpler: http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/03/24/lowtech_solar_water_purification_it_works.htm

Each site has a team of two or more Volunteers

Yes! I'll be placed with somebody else! Schweet!

who conduct community development projects in their assigned parks and protected areas. Fifteen teachers in three primary and two middle schools within and near national parks were trained to utilize and adapt materials for environmental education activities in both the classroom and the community.

OK, teacher training. I thought that might be a piece of it. Good to know.

From 2005:
In Morocco, a country with 39 major ecosystems,

39 major ecosystems?! That's fantastic! Courtesy of Wikipedia and 15 minutes on Google (Google Earth and the search engine): Morocco is about 5% bigger than California, and like CA, it goes from sea level to mountains in a fairly short distance. The mountains are pretty comparable, too: California has some 14ers, while Morocco tops out at Jbel Toubkal, 13761 ft. But back to our story...

natural resources undergo continual degradation because of deforestation and overgrazing. An estimated 30,000 hectares of vegetable cover disappear each year, with serious consequences for the country’s biodiversity. The environment project seeks to reinforce the Moroccan government’s conservation initiatives and help the country’s rural populations achieve a higher standard of living.

Environment Volunteers have written and taught environmental curricula, conducted nature field trips, introduced new technologies designed to promote conservation of natural resources (such as solar ovens), and assisted local authorities in systematic reforestation efforts.

Looks like they recycle some of their stories. ;)

Five Volunteers organized an Earth Day event at primary schools to raise children’s awareness of local environmental concerns and to give the students hands-on projects.

Earth Day in Morocco! Awesome!

From 2006:
The environment project seeks to reinforce the Moroccan government’s conservation initiatives and help rural populations achieve a higher standard of living. Volunteers have worked with government representatives, youth groups, and environmental interest groups.

Nothing new, yet...

They have also worked with new local associations to promote income-generating activities such as ecotourism projects.

Ooh, ecotourism! One of the best ways to combine conservation with economic development! I'm suddenly thinking of my trips to Monteverde, Costa Rica in 1995 and 2005. I wonder if any of the groups that did such remarkable things in those 10 years have published a guide to help promote similar efforts in other areas - Ecotourism For Dummies, or something...

Volunteers have established small community- or school-based tree nurseries and planted tree seedlings, and they have been involved in projects to control erosion and prevent water supply contamination. Volunteers have co-facilitated workshops to identify topics on environmental awareness and methods to limit desertification in three provinces, and they have helped with the planning and implementation of tree-planting drives for income-generation and soil stabilization. One project involving seven new local associations resulted in the distribution of 12,000 olive, apple, cherry, and plum trees to 350 local families.

Tree planting! Now I'm thinking of my stop in Arbofilia, also in Costa Rica, where my fellow ecotravelers and I helped their ongoing reforestation and corridor creation (read: tree-planting) efforts. As I recall, they raised money to plant and nurture the trees in lots of different ways, but it was incredibly money-efficient: $1 = 1 tree.

From 2007 - which also mentions that they anticipate having 228 volunteers in Morocco in 2008, so I'll have lots of company!!
[Repeated stuff excised]...This year, along with their counterparts from the Water and Forests Department, Volunteers organized several demonstrations of improved cook-stove prototypes to demonstrate and evaluate their potential to reduce daily fuel wood requirements. More than 300 women and girls were targeted by this project.

How cool! A project that encourages women and girls to engineer environmentally-friendly solutions to their own energy challenges! Plus, less wood = less chopping, less carrying, less splitting. It's good for the forests *and* good for the people. This is my kind of problem-solving. :)