The Use of Play in Learning and Participating in REDD+

One of the best ways to understand complex things cross-culturally is through play, as it reinforces memory and learning by linking it to the positive emotions that play triggers.

In 2022, the Wildlife Works Colombia team conducted “Gymkhanas”, an obstacle course of games in two REDD+ project sites in the Colombian Amazon (ASATIQ and ASATRIZY)  as part of a certification course on Climate Change, Leadership, and Communication, to deepen the understanding of climate change and REDD+ issues. About 80 people from the communities that are part of the REDD+ projects, respectively, participated in each Gymkhana, forming a diverse audience of actors.

We designed a circuit of nine-game stations related to key elements for the development of REDD+ projects. Participants, grouped into teams, had to solve the stations as quickly as possible, applying leadership, cooperation, and mental and physical dexterity skills. The design of the games employs consistent iconography to aid in the recognition of various representations of the REDD+ process and to enhance the retention of key concepts.

To promote integration between communities and avoid grouping participants from the same community, we formed nine teams. Each team was made up of seven (7) participants and about twenty (20) assistants, facilitators, judges, and local language interpreters, who were identified by different colored T-shirts printed with the meaning of the acronym REDD+ and the five REDD+ activities.

These games successfully fostered a deeper understanding of REDD+ among participants by combining traditional knowledge with playful learning. Through nine interactive stations, community members strengthened their knowledge of REDD+ concepts, the importance of safeguarding rights, and the steps required to sustain a successful project. The games promoted teamwork, cultural pride, and leadership, reinforcing the idea that REDD+ is not just a technical process but a collective, community-led effort.

Participants reflected on the parallels between REDD+ and their daily lives. One elder shared, “It is not difficult to estimate the carbon, but it is the work to keep the valuable trees standing that is challenging,” highlighting the understanding of the long-term commitment required. Another participant compared REDD+ to making a traditional Quiñapira dish, saying, “The project is like a good Quiñapira, which tastes better when cooked over a slow fire… everything good takes time.” These reflections demonstrate how the Gymkhana bridged technical knowledge with local wisdom, leaving participants with both new skills and a renewed sense of responsibility for their forests and the future of their communities.

Each Gymkhana was completed in a three-hour session. Below are objectives and descriptions of each game. Contact us for game design sheets and detailed instructions.

 The list and distribution of the REDD+ Gymkhana game stations

1. REDD+ Memory game

2. REDD+ Word search

3. Project area puzzle

4. Chagra and REDD+ clothesline

5. Traditional calendar puzzle

6. Estimating carbon in trees

7. REDD+ aqueduct

8. REDD+ domino

9. REDD+ Jenga

To begin the activity, each team was assigned to a different game station. Each test had a maximum duration of 15 minutes. At the end of the allotted time, the teams were required to move to the neighboring game station in a clockwise direction.

Description of the REDD+ gymkhana game stations

1. REDD+ Memory Game 

   
   

Goal: To reinforce participants' understanding of the scope of each stage of the REDD+ project developed in their territory, emphasizing the importance of full and effective community participation in the design and development of the REDD+ project.

This game is suitable for all ages and requires mental agility and good memory. It consists of a grid with four rows and eight columns, containing thirty-two cards with graphics illustrating the various stages of the REDD+ project development process, as well as related entities such as standards, registries, and governments. The game is displayed via a video projector on a screen. Participants have two options for selecting cards to discover the corresponding pairs. If they fail, they must pass the turn to the next participant. Several people or teams can play. The game continues until all pairs are discovered. The winner is the person who identifies the most pairs or finds them in the shortest time.

As the game is developed, the facilitator explains the significance of each stage of the project found on the cards, highlighting the advancements made by the community's REDD+ initiative.

The game development sparked curiosity and laughter among the participants. Many were 'betrayed' by their emotions and nerves, struggling to recall the location of the card that would complete the corresponding pair. If a participant succeeded with the help of a previous participant's failure, they laughed at their mistakes and called themselves 'forgetful'.

2. REDD+ Word Search

Goal: Identify key concepts related to adaptation to climate change, REDD+, community participation processes, and territory-specific information from cultural and traditional perspectives.

The REDD+ word search is a letter matrix containing words related to climate change, REDD+, demographic data, plants, animals, and sites of interest to project communities. The matrix is printed on a 90 cm x 70 cm banner, and words can be identified and highlighted.

The list of words to be found is located on the side of the board for the player's reference, providing a guiding frame of reference. The winner is determined by locating and highlighting all the words in the shortest time possible. Additionally, the facilitator describes the significance of each word found and its meaning for the project and the field.

During the game, participants discussed how variations in rainfall and dry periods affected rivers, farms, fishing, palm fruit collection, and hunting.

3. Project Area Puzzle

Goal: Identify geographical features within the territory and the REDD+ project area.

The team created a 2m x 2m puzzle consisting of 15 pieces that represents the map of the project area. The puzzle includes the names of local communities in their native language, as well as the locations of main rivers and bodies of water, forest areas, project area boundaries, and neighboring communities.

The puzzle's design was inspired by the maps and social cartography created by community members in previous exercises. The community members were enthusiastic and recognized their work in this interactive material.

During the construction of the puzzle and upon completion, several participants, particularly the adults and elders, shared information about past communities and hamlets that existed decades ago. They also identified hunting and fishing sites, as well as areas for collecting seeds, fruits, vines, and palm leaves for crafting and building malocas.

This information was later used to identify sites of cultural interest and other areas of high conservation value, which are now documented in the project description.

4. Chagra and REDD+ clothesline 

Goal: To understand the development of a REDD+ project as a process of stages synchronized in time. This can be compared to the sequence of steps involved in establishing, harvesting, and managing a chagra, a type of small farm. The term chagra represents the concept of Indigenous agricultural identity that intertwines Indigenous cultures of Central and South America

The communities have previously defined the main steps for establishing a chagra. These steps include selecting the site, cleaning the area, preparing and praying for the land, selecting plants and seeds, planting seeds, cultivating, caring for the crops, managing pests and weeds, harvesting, enjoying the harvest, and selling or exchanging any surplus produce. For this exercise, we have emulated these steps and related them to the development phases of a REDD+ project. These phases include feasibility, free prior and informed consent, project design, formation of administrative structures for project governance, validation and verification audits, issuance of carbon credits, sale of credits, and investment in the communities with the resources from the sales.

The posters with images representing sequential phases of development of the chagra and REDD+ project processes are arranged and fastened on a pair of ropes stretched in parallel, one below the other.

During the activity, the discussion focused on the fact that to generate carbon credits, it is necessary to work with dedication, commitment, and resources to reduce deforestation and forest degradation.  Like the chagra, the REDD+ project is a production unit that needs to be maintained and managed to produce new harvests, i.e. new carbon credits. It also highlights the difference between the concept of REDD+ activities, and the investments and needs that can be covered by the surplus from the sale of carbon credits after investment in project sustainability.

One of the women who participated in this activity commented to her teammates that "The project is like a good Quiñapira (a river fish broth with Amazonian chilli), which tastes better when it is cooked over a slow fire, with good firewood, instead of eating the fish raw and the chilli uncooked, because everything good takes time."

5. Traditional calendar puzzle

Goal: To understand the interpretation of time and climate in the life cycles of humans, animals and plants from an indigenous perspective.

Based on the traditional knowledge of community members, particularly elders, pre-gymhkana activities led to the creation of climatic calendars. These calendars synchronize and describe the life cycles and behaviour of the climate, chagras, main plants and animals used as food and in sacred rituals, as well as the cycles of illness and periods of good health in humans.

The circular calendar features a maloca at its centre, symbolizing identity, unity, and Amazonian wisdom. Concentric circles depict the different levels of life on land, in water, and in the sky, including the behaviour of plants, animals, and stars. The calendar also includes lines marking periods of rain and drought, as well as cultural events, rites, and ceremonies. These lines segment the calendar into triangular sections, like the slices of a pizza. The pieces of the puzzle were cut in this way.

Understanding this traditional climate calendar, workdays and other activities were planned for the design of the project, such as monitoring of forest plots, biodiversity monitoring, meetings, early investment activities, spiritual harmonization spaces, committee formation, and other activities.

6. Estimating carbon in trees

Goal: To understand how to estimate the carbon CO2e of standing trees by identifying the main data and steps involved.

Traditional knowledge and local materials were used to create measuring instruments for determining tree height, diameter, and hardness. Homemade pendulum clinometers made from ropes, reeds, straws, and paper were used to measure tree height. Diametric tapes made from tape measures and strings or fiber straps were used to measure tree trunk radius. Local knowledge was used to determine whether the wood was hard or soft by tapping the tree trunk with a hammer.

Using calculators and pre-existing forms, the participants collected the dasometric data to estimate the volume, dry biomass and tons of carbon of the trees.

During the exercise, the elders and forest experts taught the young people about the main uses, distribution, behaviour, history, and rituals of different trees. They also discussed the animals associated with these trees. The young people assisted the elders in organizing the data and making the final calculations. 

According to one of the participants, an expert in forests, he told his team that after the exercise he realized that it was not difficult to estimate the carbon, but that it was the work to keep the valuable trees standing that was challenging.

7. REDD+ Aqueduct

Goal: to highlight the importance of caring for, and managing strategic resources.

The task involves transferring water from a full container to an empty one located at least 40 meters away, using bamboo or other reusable materials as gutters to transport the water. The goal is to carry as much water as possible while avoiding any losses during the journey.

Cooperation is a fundamental principle, and trial and error are an applied practice that enables participants to experiment with various strategies for water transportation and loss prevention. In conclusion, the use of water as a metaphor for the management of financial resources coming into the community from REDD+, or any other source. The initial bucket of water represents the financial resources from the sale of carbon credits, while the final empty bucket represents the community’s awaiting investment. Water losses along the way symbolize corruption, intermediation, and inefficiency in the management of resources.

8. REDD+ Domino

Goal: To reinforce the concept of developing the REDD+ project through a logical sequence of steps.

In contrast to traditional dominoes, which feature white tiles with varying numbers of black dots, this game utilizes wooden pieces adorned with depictions of the stages of the REDD+ project. The players received an equal number of counters and arranged them in a sequence to match the figures. The player who has no tiles or the fewest tiles left wins the game.

The activity can be carried out either against each other or within each team. If the activity is carried out against each other, the winner adds points to their team. If the activity is carried out within each team, the team that completes the domino sequence in the shortest time wins the test.

During each game, participants had to concentrate and use their memory and strategy to place their assigned pieces. This created heightened emotions as they kept track of who had the fewest tokens per round and who could potentially win. 

At the end of the game, the facilitator used dominoes with double images to explain the different phases of the REDD+ project and reinforce the concepts related to REDD+. As Domino is a well-known game, it ended faster than the other Gymkhana events, leaving time for a rematch.

9. REDD+ Jenga    

Goal: To understand the concepts of prior, free, and informed consent, fundamental rights, REDD+ safeguards, stages of the REDD+ project, self-governance, participation mechanisms, and cultural traditions of project communities. 

This version of Jenga differs from the traditional game because each piece in the tower contains a phrase or word related to concepts such as safeguarding rights, participation mechanisms, self-government, and the culture of the project communities.

The game aims to remove and relocate pieces from the bottom of a tower to the top, without causing it to fall. Each piece has an inscription or word on it, which the player must read aloud and interpret in their own words. This helps to generate a memory of the terms and concepts related to the REDD+ project in the local language.

A young participant reflected that contributing to the development of the REDD+ project requires an orderly approach, with discussions and agreements on each step taken, under solid leadership and without haste. During the game, it was clear that everyone wanted to contribute to building the tallest tower. Unfortunately, each person went about it in their own way, often simultaneously and hastily, to complete the tower quickly. Sadly, this approach led to instability and the risk of collapse, ultimately undermining the collective effort.

A young woman who took part in the activity positively appreciated the collective work. This helped in evaluating their decision before relocating a piece. Different team members were looking at the tower from various angles, and this diversity of perspectives allowed the player who was removing the pieces to receive recommendations from other team members. 

Another participant, who is a traditional authority in her community, said the project is like the tower, if it is done poorly or fails to safeguard fundamental rights, such as free and informed prior consent, the project weakens and falls, like the tower.

Learn more about our FPIC implementation framework here.