Every year, 10 students from the villages near the park will receive a scholarship to enable them to attend primary or secondary school. The scholarship covers books and all other teaching materials and is valid for a period of one year. We select the scholarship recipients through discussions with teachers and as part of the DSCN classes. A DSCN scholarship is linked to the obligation for the students to report on their scholarship and on the park or environmental protection topics in their classes. The scholarship enables the children to obtain a school leaving certificate; they can also implement small environmental protection projects on their own initiative. In 2021, the first 10 students were awarded scholarships.
German Foundation for the Comoé National Park (DSCN)
Our projects
Our projects
What are our goals and how do we want to achieve them?
One of the foundation's goals is to raise local, national and international interest in the sustainable protection of Comoé National Park and its biodiversity. To achieve this, the importance of the park must be made known to the general public.
At the local level, we want to sustainably embed the principles of environmental and biodiversity protection. Through school and university scholarships, we want to encourage the younger generation and create incentives to get involved in environmental and nature conservation. We want to encourage local people to take their own initiative to protect the park. We want to work with them to develop environmental protection projects that are tailored to their needs so that they can take long-term responsibility for preserving the park.
These are our current projects:
DSCN School Scholarships
DSCN University Scholarships
The aim is to award one such scholarship every year to enable committed young people in the Ivory Coast to study biology with a focus on environmental and nature conservation. The student will take on the role of a tutor for projects in the park and report on the DSCN at the university.
DSCN Sustainability Days
As part of the DSCN Sustainability Days, school classes will get to know the park's animals and plants in the classroom and through excursions. This will allow students to learn step by step about the importance of the park and its biodiversity and develop an understanding of ecological relationships.
DSCN awareness campaigns
We want to reach the local population through regular events in the villages that inform them about the importance of the park. Through intensive exchange with them, we want to develop and support project ideas for sustainable value creation concepts and for protecting the park. We want to involve the entire village community in this. This will help to develop local mediators and experts who will carry the idea of nature conservation forward.