Rainforests Project From the Impact Seed Fund: 'The School as a Training Ground for Small Conservationists' Course

Image

The Pulitzer Center-supported course "The School as a Training Ground for Small Conservationists," offered by the Juruá Institute in Manaus, Brazil, took leaders and representatives of associations from the Médio Juruá Extractive Reserve in Amazonas state to talk to rural teachers working and in training in the region between February 26 and 28, 2024, in the municipality of Carauari. This area is in the middle of the Amazon region, and comprises three protected areas (covering about 2 million hectares, twice the size of Portugal). 

The aim of the course was to offer a training space to share some of the knowledge about community-based conservation. This knowledge has been accumulated over years of struggle and organization by the socio-environmental movement in the Médio Juruá territory. The course also aimed to introduce the development of school projects and provide community teachers with materials to help them in their ongoing training and teaching.

The course was organized after a statement from the local Médio Juruá Territory (TMJ) Forum, which pointed out the need for future generations to continue the work promoted by socio-environmental movements in the Médio Juruá. These movements have helped to build successful community-based conservation models, both to guarantee an improved quality of life for local residents and for environmental conservation in the Amazon. However, these are still subjects that are rarely dealt with in traditional community schools.

This is the same area where Nadia Pontes, a Pulitzer Center grantee, filmed her documentary A vida numa reserva extrativista. She wrote some articles for the course, the ebook, and the primer as well (please see below). Her story helped to reinforce local rainforest defenders’ experiences and resistance. 

The course was attended by 65 rural teachers from the municipality of Carauari, as well as 34 students from the Rural Pedagogy class at Amazonas State University (UEA). The course was organized by the Juruá Institute, in partnership with the Education Department of the Municipality of Carauari and UEA, with support from the Pulitzer Center and the International Conservation Fund of Canada. 

The history of the social struggle in Médio Juruá and community-based conservation were also main themes of the course. Leaders and association representatives told teachers about the importance of their work and gave tips on how to address these issues in the classroom.

There were sessions that offered an overview of education in the municipality of Carauari based on the themes of Indigenous education, rural education, and special education. There was also a panel on how to engage future generations in social movements.

The course wrapped up with a training in project development, and groups of teachers and students created school projects, bringing to light the themes covered during the course. There will also be two online meetings, with the Juruá Institute team and to present the projects developed by the groups.

Audience: Direct: 99 teachers in the Médio Juruá River. Indirect: 3,500 students in the same region.

Materials: Besides the course, the project also resulted in an ebook and primer for the teachers, which were launched in April.

Highlights: Our partner, Juruá Institute, was invited to compose the local committee to discuss education in the forest. The evaluation was that the course was fundamental to boost the local education system, especially in protected areas in the Amazon where education needs urgent improvement.