Most local children, living no more than 10 kms away from the forest, have never seen an elephant! The children living on the forest border have experienced or heard about bad encounters with elephants (crop destruction, human injuries). At the same time, ecotourism is beginning to develop in Burkina Faso and the elephant is obviously an asset for the country. These two facts encouraged Des Elephants et Des Hommes (coordinating NGO) to set up this Conservation & Environmental Education Program.

It is offered to local children of the villages surrounding the "Deux Balé" Forest where elephants can be seen from January to April which is the dry season in Burkina Faso. Groups of 10 pupils aged between 8 and 12 years experience a one-day outreach program with their teacher. At a campsite in the forest where elephants are regularly seen from a safe location, the children learn about elephants, wildlife conservation, forest protection and career opportunities of ecotourism. The program offers teachers an outdoor environmental activity that they can rarely afford due to lack of means of their schools. For parents, the experience of their children is a very powerful way for them to modify their attitudes about elephants. Children that have attended the outreach program share what they learned with the other pupils of their schools.

IEF funding supports 150 children's attendance to this very important outreach program.