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Laura Barraza
Education for Sustainability, SACBÉ—Servicios Ambientales, Conservación Biológica y Educación A.C. de México, Mexico City 04100, Mexico

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Abstract
Published: 07 June 2021 in Sustainability
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This study is based on ethnographic research that analyzes how traditional knowledge and local beliefs on biodiversity conservation relates to the local ability to adapt and be resilient to climatic changes in two communities around Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique: Nhanfisse in the buffer zone and Muanandimae in the core area. A total of 78 semi-structured interviews with heads of households were conducted. We found that both communities carried out practices and held beliefs associated with conservation, such as protecting trees and animal species considered sacred or perceived as beneficial for human life in terms of water provision and agricultural production. In addition to traditional ceremonies that respond to extreme climatic events such as drought and flood, other adaptation strategies used by the communities include moving to neighboring areas in search of better living conditions and using forest products in times of scarcity. We discuss that the management of the park should be agreed on, in a shared way, between local communities and conservation agents to ensure that these areas continue to perform the ecological, subsistence, and spiritual functions required. Our research results contribute to a better understanding of local adaptation dynamics towards extreme climatic events and improvement of management strategies.

ACS Style

Amemarlita Matos; Laura Barraza; Isabel Ruiz-Mallén. Linking Conservation, Community Knowledge, and Adaptation to Extreme Climatic Events: A Case Study in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6478 .

AMA Style

Amemarlita Matos, Laura Barraza, Isabel Ruiz-Mallén. Linking Conservation, Community Knowledge, and Adaptation to Extreme Climatic Events: A Case Study in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (11):6478.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Amemarlita Matos; Laura Barraza; Isabel Ruiz-Mallén. 2021. "Linking Conservation, Community Knowledge, and Adaptation to Extreme Climatic Events: A Case Study in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique." Sustainability 13, no. 11: 6478.

Journal article
Published: 20 October 2020 in Sustainability
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Peoples’ understanding and appreciation of wildlife are crucial for its conservation. Nevertheless, environmental education in many tropical countries is seldom incorporated into public-school curricula and wildlife topics are often underrepresented. In this research we aimed to (1) assess the effects of an environmental education intervention focused on improving students’ awareness about wild vertebrates and their ecological functions and (2) to evaluate whether previous exposure to general environmental education could improve the effects of the intervention. We worked in four schools in a high-biodiversity shade-coffee-producing region in Mexico; two of the schools had received general environmental education as part of a Community Program, while the other two had not. In all schools we conducted a targeted intervention providing information about wild vertebrates and their ecological functions. Through questionnaires, we assessed students’ awareness before and after the intervention. We found that students’ awareness about wildlife was improved by our intervention, and that this effect was stronger in students that had attended the Community Program. Our results contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 15 by showing that targeted education interventions can help achieve specific conservation goals, and that previous community-based environmental education can condition peoples’ awareness, improving the assimilation and/or understanding of new concepts.

ACS Style

Ellen Andresen; Paulina López-Del-Toro; Montserrat Franquesa-Soler; Francisco Mora; Laura Barraza. Teenagers’ Awareness about Local Vertebrates and Their Functions: Strengthening Community Environmental Education in a Mexican Shade-Coffee Region to Foster Animal Conservation. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8684 .

AMA Style

Ellen Andresen, Paulina López-Del-Toro, Montserrat Franquesa-Soler, Francisco Mora, Laura Barraza. Teenagers’ Awareness about Local Vertebrates and Their Functions: Strengthening Community Environmental Education in a Mexican Shade-Coffee Region to Foster Animal Conservation. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (20):8684.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ellen Andresen; Paulina López-Del-Toro; Montserrat Franquesa-Soler; Francisco Mora; Laura Barraza. 2020. "Teenagers’ Awareness about Local Vertebrates and Their Functions: Strengthening Community Environmental Education in a Mexican Shade-Coffee Region to Foster Animal Conservation." Sustainability 12, no. 20: 8684.

Articles
Published: 19 June 2009 in Environmental Education Research
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This study draws on information from 11 in‐depth interviews, two focus groups and 72 written questionnaires to evaluate an extra‐curricular environmental education programme on forestry designed for preparatory school students from a small rural community in Mexico. Specifically, the study assessed the impact of the programme on the ecological knowledge of 72 students. Qualitative feedback suggests that students learnt about forestry, acquired greater awareness of the importance of conservation for the local environment and enjoyed the participatory teaching methods used in the programme. Quantitative results show a positive and significant association between the number of times a student participated in the programme and the student’s ecological knowledge. Students who participated in the programme once had a 16.3% higher knowledge on ecological concepts and knew, on average, 1.5 more local forest plants than students who never attended it (p<.001). Findings suggest that the inclusion of participatory environmental education programmes in preparatory schools would improve the acquisition of ecological knowledge. Further research could consider the consistency of the findings by replicating participatory methods presented here and by using an experimental research design.

ACS Style

Isabel Ruiz‐Mallen; Laura Barraza; Barbara Bodenhorn; Victoria Reyes‐García. Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme: an empirical study in Mexico. Environmental Education Research 2009, 15, 371 -387.

AMA Style

Isabel Ruiz‐Mallen, Laura Barraza, Barbara Bodenhorn, Victoria Reyes‐García. Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme: an empirical study in Mexico. Environmental Education Research. 2009; 15 (3):371-387.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Isabel Ruiz‐Mallen; Laura Barraza; Barbara Bodenhorn; Victoria Reyes‐García. 2009. "Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme: an empirical study in Mexico." Environmental Education Research 15, no. 3: 371-387.

Articles
Published: 02 June 2009 in International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
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Understanding environmental learning is the first step to constructing successful environmental education programs. Little research has addressed the relation between the environmental knowledge learned inside and outside schools. Environmental educators and ethnobiologists have worked independently, without assessing how school and local environmental knowledge relate to each other. This research examines school and local environmental knowledge acquisition of 95 Mexican indigenous adolescents. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess (1) school and local environmental knowledge overlap and (2) the association between individual environmental knowledge and socio-demographic characteristics. Data show that school and local environmental knowledge are not associated in a statistically significant way. A possible explanation for the finding is that the two forms of knowledge are complementary because they exist in parallel. Adolescents' school and local environmental knowledge is associated with their level of schooling, but not with parental occupation in community forestry. The use of traditional pedagogical practices at school and the loss of traditional culture at home might hamper indigenous adolescents' environmental learning.

ACS Style

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén; Laura Barraza; Barbara Bodenhorn; Victoria Reyes-García. School and local environmental knowledge, what are the links? A case study among indigenous adolescents in Oaxaca, Mexico. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 2009, 18, 82 -96.

AMA Style

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén, Laura Barraza, Barbara Bodenhorn, Victoria Reyes-García. School and local environmental knowledge, what are the links? A case study among indigenous adolescents in Oaxaca, Mexico. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education. 2009; 18 (2):82-96.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén; Laura Barraza; Barbara Bodenhorn; Victoria Reyes-García. 2009. "School and local environmental knowledge, what are the links? A case study among indigenous adolescents in Oaxaca, Mexico." International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 18, no. 2: 82-96.

Educational research
Published: 01 June 2008 in Journal of Biological Education
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The indigenous community of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro in Mexico has been engaged in a successful Community Forest Enterprise employing sustainable management practices since 1981. These environmental practices do not seem to be reflected in the educational programmes developed at school. In this study, the environmental knowledge and interest of 102 students at high-school (15 to 18 years old) towards forestry management were analysed. The association between their knowledge and interests in environmental issues was also estimated. These analyses examine their interest in forest management as potential employment and the effect of the educational system on environmental learning. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. Results showed that environmental concepts were poorly understood despite their inclusion in the curriculum. Adolescents did not envisage working in the forest in the future because they showed no interest in forest activities. Educational implications and strategies to encourage adolescents to become involved in community forest management are crucial for conservation.

ACS Style

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén; Laura Barraza. Are adolescents from a forest community well-informed about forest management? Journal of Biological Education 2008, 42, 104 -111.

AMA Style

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén, Laura Barraza. Are adolescents from a forest community well-informed about forest management? Journal of Biological Education. 2008; 42 (3):104-111.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén; Laura Barraza. 2008. "Are adolescents from a forest community well-informed about forest management?" Journal of Biological Education 42, no. 3: 104-111.