The Science Department of the Teacher Training Faculty
(DCIEN/FFP/UERJ) develops teaching, research and extra
mural activities in the field of environmental education.
The aim of these activities is both to recover land
which has been laid to waste, and to improve the quality
of community life, as well as to preserve important
"Conservation Units of the Tropical Coastal Range
Forest of the State of Rio de Janeiro". The Environmental
Recovery Program of the Teacher Training Faculty Campus
and its Surroundings is active in the community and
in the public sector schools in the vicinity of the
campus within the São Gonçalo municipality.
The reforestation of the area, developed by means of
student mini-projects, was the initial aim of the program,
which later encompassed and included questions relating
to basic sanitation, hygiene and health. The DCIEN students
are also developing work projects in the town of Santa
Maria Madalena and in the adjoining Desengano State
Park (PED/RJ), with the purpose of providing data which
will help in the preservation of the Conservation Units.
The resulting interviews have generated a profile of
the relationship between the town's inhabitants and
the State Park. This profile has underlined the communities'
desire for environmental education and has improved
their knowledge of this important heritage. In addition,
the Science Department has developed research projects
in the State Park of the Tiririca Mountain Chain (PEST/RJ)
in the city of Niterói. This State Park has suffered
from a rapid process of degradation due to pressure
to develop the land for urban development. Here a series
of student activities is being developed together with
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as "Forest
Protectors", whose final aim is to preserve the
Conservation Units. At the FFP, environmental education
acts as a bridge between various activities and thus
brings academic debates closer to the social reality
of which the Faculty is part, and, in this way, contributes
towards the knowledge and efforts to recover and preserve
the threatened ecosystems.
Teacher Training Faculty
Rua Dr. Francisco Portela, 794
Paraíso - São Gonçalo - Rio de Janeiro / Brazil
Cep 24435-000
Telephone:55 (21) 604-3232
E-mail: ffp@uerj.br
http://www2.uerj.br/~ffp/
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