Awareness of the Environmental Protection Area Morros Garapenses urban of Duque Bacelar, Maranhão State, Brazil

Abstract

The Morro Garapenses APA, located in the municipality of Duque Bacelar, constitutes one of the main environmental and cultural heritage of the State. However, it is clear that it has been constantly threatened by the population. Thus, it was sought through this research to show the importance of a balanced relationship with the environment. Environmental education work was carried out with students from the Professor Luís Viana Teaching Center, in Duque Bacelar, in order to show their environmental importance. For this, awareness was carried out with booklets and informative pamphlets. This material was made available on social networks, so that people from other municipalities within the APA had access. A questionnaire was applied to students and people who were willing to answer it through the internet, realizing that a high number of students (61.5%) they did not have previous knowledge about it, as for the responses from social networks, the opposite was seen, the majority (75.7%) stated that they knew the APA. All answered yes, when asked how much more information to receive about them. Another question was whether they had already seen information on the APA in any means of communication, where 53.9% of the students said yes, in contrast to the interviewees, when 76.9% said no. Therefore, it was evident that despite all the biological importance, many students had no prior knowledge about the conservation unit. The awareness of preserving and protecting natural resources was evident, although it is a unit that is still unknown to most of them, the information materials made available stimulated the curiosity of the students and the community. 

Keywords: APA, Environment, Preservation.