Environmental Education Programme
One of the primary objectives of REGUA has always been the development and provision of an environmental education programme for the students and community groups living within the Guapiaçu basin. REGUA’s conservation work will never succeed in the long-term unless the local residents understand the importance of protecting the unique and threatened environment in which they live, and value its biodiversity.
REGUA’s environmental education programme started in 1999 working with the children in the surrounding schools. One of the early aims was to teach them about the damage caused by illegal hunting, in the hope that they could influence their families and challenge some of their traditional and more destructive behaviours. Our initial education officer, Eleonora Pacheco, also started to build a programme that incorporated basic ecological ideas into the daily curricula and the children showed great interest and enthusiasm. However we were surprised by the low attendance for field trips, and it soon became evident that the main reason was the low school-teacher participation and interest. Inadvertently we had neglected the teachers who also needed to be educated about the environment, and so with funding from Conservation International and the Associação Mico Leão Dourado, REGUA rapidly established an Environmental Awareness Programme (EAP) which specifically focussed on teacher training.
With the support of the teachers, the environmental programme has continued to grow and is now embedded into the normal local school activities. REGUA strongly encourages school visits to the reserve and in recent years has dramatically improved the facilities available. By the end of 2007 over 3,000 children have visited the reserve to learn about REGUA’s conservation work, and this would have been even greater if more funding had been available to pay for the school buses. In 2004 the Young Rangers Programme was started to build on the success of the school visits and to provide the opportunity for some students to become more actively involved in REGUA, as well as becoming more informed about environmental issues. In the first four years over 60 students have taken part in the programme, and in 2008 our first ex-student was appointed as a full-time ranger.
REGUA has also tried to ensure that the older local residents are engaged with our work through regular communications and local meetings. REGUA has been established as a Brazilian Association (similar to a UK charity) and is governed by a local Council which includes members of the local community, holding regular public meetings where activities and future plans are discussed and agreed.
REGUA’s reputation and standing in the local community owes much to the excellent education and communications work that has been carried out. Initially the appearance of wealthy foreign visitors eager to purchase their land and prevent traditional pursuits (such as hunting) was not unreasonably regarded with suspicion, but REGUA is now hopefully seen as a significant employer working to protect the local environment for the benefit of all.
However there is still much more we can do, and REGUA has ambitious plans to create a comprehensive Research and Education Centre at the Fazenda Sao Jose. The aim is to convert the existing farm buildings into classrooms, workshops and laboratories with all the equipment necessary to host the youngest to post-graduate students. No such centre exists in the Cachoeiras de Macacu municipality and the nearest is the Serra dos Orgãos National Park visitor centre, some 2 hours away by car. These building developments are being progressed as and when money becomes available, but a network of trails close to the Centre has already been created which allows many of the aspects of wetland and forest restoration and the associated biodiversity to be demonstrated.