University of São Paulo: Environmental project calculates degree of preservation of SP and proposes reconnection with territory
Coordinated by the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture (Esalq) at USP, the Caipira Corridor project has just launched two free educational booklets available for download here . Aimed at landscape managers and elementary school teachers, the publications relate the conservation of biodiversity to the increase in water availability in cities in the interior of São Paulo, in addition to proposing socio-environmental education activities.
In Restoring tomorrow: Challenges and proposals for the landscape , the authors raise worrying data about the degree of preservation of native forest in municipalities that make up the area of direct influence of the so-called Caipira Corridor. In Piracicaba, for example, only 9% of the natural vegetation is preserved. According to the survey, the establishment of sugar and alcohol plants in the region brought financial benefits, but drastically devastated natural areas, compromising the availability of water for the human population.
In the Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) of water courses, lakes and ponds, only one third has natural vegetation; the remainder is occupied by a mosaic of agriculture and pasture (42%), pasture (17%) and sugarcane (6%).
The booklet offers a proposal for the recovery of native vegetation based on a mapping of priorities. The authors defined eight criteria for prioritizing the areas after consulting a team of experienced technicians, researchers and public managers. The material also has practical examples of social participation.
Another booklet made available by the project is Guardian Trees: concepts and activities for transformative education . Aimed at elementary school teachers I and II, the publication serves as a source of inspiration and a basis for children’s socio-environmental education. The work presents seven trees native to the Atlantic Forest region and proposes a reconnection with the territory through the appreciation of forests and people.
Each tree portrayed in the booklet is accompanied by principles associated with that species, in addition to hyperlinks that direct to the project’s pages on the internet with more information about the tree.
There are also proposals for activities to be developed in the classroom, involving subjects such as biology, history and arts. The pedagogical proposal is to work on recognizing the tree as a symbol of a new mentality and thinking about an agroecological way of life.
Redneck Corridor
The area of direct influence of the Caipira Corridor is made up of the municipalities of Piracicaba, São Pedro, Águas de São Pedro, Santa Maria da Serra and Anhembi.
The objective of the Caipira Corridor is to recover and encourage recovery actions in the area and to promote landscape connectivity between the two extremes of the region covered by territory, favoring the conservation of biodiversity and the production of water.