Mangrove ecosystem: experiences of Environmental Education in the municipality of Piúma (ES, Brazil)

Abstract

The mangrove – coastal ecosystem – has high ecological and economic importance. This ecosystem has been constantly impacted through anthropic actions, which allows reflection and increase in the number of studies that address its importance for the maintenance of marine biodiversity, and environmental education is a tool important for the development of ecological awareness in students and their families, which is why the development of ecological awareness through environmental education has been noted. This work aimed to apply school practices of environmental education aimed at cleaning solid waste from the mangrove and Itaputanga river – nursery of marine life – in Piúma, Espírito Santo State and thereby mobilize the preservation of the ecosystem Mangrove. For this purpose, 166 basic education students from two schools located in the municipality were used as a public. The practices were divided into three stages: before (training), during (field class) and after (application of a questionnaire). The students showed a lot of commitment during the execution of the practice by the educational action before the production of educational materials, the blog and the panels for the science fair. It was possible to evidence that the actions of Environmental Education aimed at sensitization and awareness made it possible to provide students' reflection on the importance of the Mangrove ecosystem for marine life and for the maintenance of economic activity of many families in the municipality, by sensitizing their families and the surrounding community with the actions of collecting municipal solid waste on the banks of the Itaputanga River and mangrove. The practices focused on the actions of importance and depollution allowed the previous knowledge of the young students and the efficiency in the approach of the bioecological concepts of this ecosystem in the science and biology classes in the two schools.