Forest fires occurrence and environment education in the parks open to public visitation in Minas Gerais / Ocorrência de incêndios florestais e educação ambiental nos parques abertos à visitação pública em Minas Gerais

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

Our study aimed to compile and look into the educational actions targeting the prevention of forest fires in the public state and national parks of Minas Gerais. In view of the social nature and qualitative character of the study the data were collected in a survey as well as literature and field research. The park managers participated in semi-formal interviews and were asked for topic-related educational material. After the interviews underlying the survey and with the collected educational material, the manuals Controlled Burning (IBAMA, 2002) and Controlled Burning Orientation and Procedures (IEF/PROMATA, 2006) were chosen for a participative analysis involving a community from the surroundings of the National Park of Caparaó. The study showed that forest fires are in fact a constant challenge for the managers of the open parks in Minas Gerais. Generally speaking, the burnt areas are in decline, thanks to the headway made with the measures of reducing fire propagation, as for instance, the formation of fire brigades, the opening of forest aisles and hot spot detection by satellite monitoring. The educational actions were generally restricted to awareness campaigns, based mainly on lectures and the distribution of instructions and leaflets that inform on the legislation, hazard and damages related to the use of fire, besides providing orientation on the technique of controlled burning. The participative analysis showed that the farmers knowledge on the use of the fire is transmitted from generation to generation. A fire that grows into a forest fire and attains the conservation units is not always a result of carelessness or lack of technical information of the producer, but rather of his conflicting relation with the unit, owing to the tardy process of compensation or the impairment of former economical activities. Based on the principles of the Method of Critical Comprehension of Paulo Freire, it was concluded that there is still much to be done with regard to educational actions, with promising long-lasting and permanent results in the mean and long term. For this purpose, the concerned institutions, IEF and IBAMA, must invest in human resources with the creation of multidisciplinary teams that are able to interact with the target communities in a participative approach. The origin of forest fires must be collectively discussed and alternatives to the use of fire proposed since the main causes of fires are considered criminal offences, as showed here. The assigned institutions must further support the initiatives of the conservation units financially and logistically to establish proper educative material, adapted to local peculiarities and, consequently, more effective.

ASSUNTO(S)

conservation units incêndios florestais environment education unidades de conservação conservacao da natureza forest fires educação ambiental

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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