Our project provides environmental and forestry education for children in Argentina, seeking to change the harmful cultural trends of not taking care of one's surroundings. Children are taught to produce, plant and take care of trees, together with their teacher, family and the local community, as a means of raising awareness of the environmental challenges and strengthening the values that lead to more sustainable future.
Constant misuse and mismanagement of natural resources generates increasing impoverishment of biodiversity in Argentina contributing also to climate change. Environmental issues such as deforestation, erosion, wildfires, pollution and lack of urban nature are common problems. The impact is not only environmental but does also impoverish the people. What is missing is a common understanding of the severity of the ongoing environmental deterioration, and will to change that course.
The "Educar Forestando" project works to bring in environmental awareness on a large scale and in the shortest amount of time possible. This is achieved by training teachers to produce and plant trees, and build a small tree nursery of 1x2 meters on the school grounds. Tree seeds are collected, seeded and nursed by children, with the help of their family members. Produced trees are planted together in places where they benefit the whole community, and nursed together after that.
The project is changing the behavioral patterns of the children and other community members involved. We raise awareness of the importance of environment in everyday life, contributing to the sustainable use of environmental resources and leading the way to more just future for the children and the environment. The project operates in five different provinces of Argentina, involving already more than 200,000 children and at least 200,000 family members, neighbours and other community members.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).