"Bakkar", which according to the organisers was the first Egyptian cartoon to be broadcast on television, revolves around the adventures of a young Nubian boy called Bakkar. The series, which airs every evening during the 30 days of Ramadan, is said to draw 40 million viewers — two thirds of the population of Egypt — including adults and children.


For the past three years, the AED Center for Environmental Strategies has collaborated with the show’s producers to create two environmentally-themed episodes each year. In these episodes Bakkar encounters and deals with situations in a way that reinforces environmentally responsible behaviours. For example, one episode features Bakkar plotting the rescue of endangered animals from a greedy villain, with the purpose of exposing children to the negative effects of collecting marine life, fishing, and digging in protectorates.

The episodes also promote some of the Center’s other initiatives in Egypt, such as the communications and training programme to increase the enforcement capacity of the Red Sea Rangers, a coast guard-like corps within the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency that monitors compliance with mooring and waste-disposal regulations.

Environment.

Audience research conducted in late 2003 illustrated the show’s ability to communicate important environmental concepts to children between the ages of 7 to 11. An independent evaluation found that before the broadcast, none of the children surveyed were familiar with the Red Sea protectorates and only 2% had heard of the Red Sea Rangers. After the special episodes were aired, however, the percentages increased: 45% of the children knew about the protectorates and 42% understood the role of the Red Sea Rangers. In addition, their awareness of Red Sea coral and marine life also increased significantly.

To date, GreenCOM has also trained 150 teachers at 60 schools in the Red Sea area to increase knowledge and understanding of basic environmental issues, and how to incorporate them into their classrooms.

In partnership with the Egyptian Government, the Center has distributed environmental education materials to 1,000 secondary industrial, hotel, and agriculture technical schools. The Ministry of Education subsequently trained 2,000 technical school teachers on environmental education.