Environmental Education Program

Objective:

Raise the awareness of the local population regarding the importance of protecting and conserving natural resources and their appropriate use.

Principal Activities that are Performed:

Among the activities promoted in educational institutions within the canton and Valle la Estrella as part of the Environmental Education Program are the following:

• Working with schools

Every year, a list of schools are selected to participate in the Environmental Education Program that the Talamanca-Caribbean Biological Corridor Association develops.

For 2009, the schools selected were Bocuare and La Colonia located in Valle la Estrella; Suretka and Bernardo Drug (Amubri) located in Bribri Indigenous Territory; Cahuita and Manzanillo in the coastal sector; Carbon I, Dindirí, Patiño, Monteverde and Tuba Creek located in the Carbon River Basin; and the School of Bribri located in the community of the same name. With the schools, activities were carried out such as:

• Talks, videos and presentations about relevant subjects associated with natural resources and our planet such as climatic change, which has been the central theme for 2009 and 2010; the foregoing together with activities for mitigating the damage caused by floods and related factors.

• Educational tours to local places of interest, such as the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge; Cahuita National Park, the recycling center (ReciCaribe), and integral farms, among others.

• Environmental projects: such as school gardens (which permit the variation and improvement of the children's diet); preparation of organic fertilizers (utilization of organic waste); recycling and separation of waste (raising the awareness of taking care of the planet); planting trees (recuperation of degraded areas and beautification of the educational center area); school nurseries (recuperation of deforested or unprotected areas).

• Workshops for drawing, theater, singing and poetry.

• Environmental Festivals:  celebrated annually as an event to finalize the year's work; this is where children from the different schools participate and show the results of what they learned during the process.

Contact telephone numbers and email address:
Karla Murillo Suárez 2756-8033 / 2756-8136
kmurillo@corredortalamanca.org