Conservation Awareness through an Environmental Education Programme in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Abstract

Few environmental education programmes established in parks in Brazil have been formally evaluated. This paper describes the study of a school programme that was established to use formative evaluation to select and improve programme strategies, and employs summative evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the programme as a whole. The programme consisted of pre-visit strategies, such as a slide show and information given to teachers; on-site activities, which comprised Nature trails and a visitor centre; and post-visit materials furnished to the students at their schools. For the evaluation procedure, child students (N=144) from fifth to eighth grades were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups and answered a written questionnaire on three different occasions — pre-test, post-test, and memory-retention test. The results were statistically analysed and significant differences were assessed between the two groups (F=98.29, p≤0.05). A Scheffé Test demonstrated correlations and located significant differences among the variables. A reliability test was done on the written questionnaire (r=.77). Informally, the programme contributed to the conservation of the Park as it encouraged community involvement in helping to solve specific problems.The results of the Black Lion-tamarin environmental education programme suggest that such programmes in Nature parks and reserves can be effective and should be established far more widely. Awareness education programmes should be encouraged, especially in underdeveloped countries which still hold great portions of the planet's biodiversity. This education programme was beneficial to both students and members of the local community, who learned about the Park and became proud of it as their natural legacy, as well as to the Park itself of which the protection became enhanced through awareness and community involvement. The Black Liontamarin programme serves as an effective example to other sites with similar contexts and constraints.

Ecotourism and the Conservation Ethic: Recruiting the Uninitiated or Preaching to the Converted?

“…Some studies have found increases in both environmental knowledge and attitudes (Burrus-Bammel et al, 1980;Coleman & Lamond, 1993;Davis et al, 1980;Padua, 1994), while others have found increases in environmental knowledge but not in attitudes (Keen, 1991;Salt, 1993). Some studies which simply measured environmental attitudes have found small increases in those attitudes (Beckmann, 1989;Shepard & Speelman, 1985/86), whereas others have found no significant improvement (Eagles & Demare, 1995;Shepard & Speelman, 1985/86).…”

Contact with nature: effects of field trips on pro-environmental knowledge, intentions and attitudes

“…The separation of students in control or experimental group also avoids possibilities of experimental error. This design offers the same chance to both groups and exposes them to the same risks (PADUA, 1994). In this case, participating students in the Experimental Groups chose to take part in the trip, as it was constituent of the regular activities of their graduation program.…”

“…Therefore, there can be an inference of the data obtained in this study to other populations whose realities are similar. Padua (1994) points out that the pre-test may influence the results, as it draws attention to determined topics which will again be asked, as well as it warns the interviewees on likely desirable responses, in case they know the objectives of the research. To minimize the influence, participants were not informed, in the moment of the pre-test, of the objectives of the research, nor were they induced on the relation between the test and the trip that would be carried out -what happened after the post-test only.…”

‘Why must we protect crocodiles?’ Explaining the value of the Philippine crocodile to rural communities

“…Susana Padua, for example, describes how conservationists succeeded in turning the Black Lion-tamarin from a pest into a source of pride and excitement for rural communities in Brazil (Padua 1994). Over the past years, the Mabuwaya Foundation tried to foster a sense of pride in the occurrence and conservation of the Philippine crocodile (Figure 3).…”