Why education is key in saving the world's rainforest

For the children in Gadaisu, the trip to secondary school is no leisurely jaunt. The nearest school house in Fife Bay is a staggering six-hour hike. With the cost of boarding, it’s no wonder parents can’t afford to put their children through secondary education. But for the Gadaisu primary school teachers and parents, secondary education is at the top of the curriculum.

With A* efficiency, they created a proposal and asked the Yakolima Committee to financially support the whole of grade 8 in graduating to the next step of education. Yakolima accepted and offered Cool Earth bridge funding worth K4000 to send 17 children to secondary school or to attend vocational courses in Alotau.

During our most recent visit to PNG we caught up with Jerry who had recently completed a vocational course based in Alotau. Jerry is now back in Gadaisu and making the most of her training helping out at the Dabu Bakery.

Earning more and more per-bake, the Dabu bakery is proving to be a successful business model for Gadaisu village.

As rainforest destruction still accounts for a fifth of carbon emissions, educating the next generation to keep their forest standing is a priority for us all. Every child understands how trees store carbon, create water and provide a home to the animals that are part of their daily lives. Reinvesting in the community by learning new skills is paramount in this process.

That’s why Cool Earth’s simple model of helping villages build incomes from things that depend on the canopy being kept safe is protecting almost one million acres.