A utilização de trilhas ecológicas como recurso pedagógico para a sensibilização ambiental

Abstract

Bearing in mind the relevance of environmental education, this paper proposes to research and evaluate the importance of ecological trails as a pedagogical resource, as well as identifying if their accomplishment contributes to changes in the visitors environmental perception, making them aware about their responsibility towards nature conservation and their role as a multiplier. For this purpose, in August 2018, visits were held to the Valdir Diehl Ribeiro Ecological Trail, located in the municipality of Campo Belo do Sul, Santa Catarina (SC), under the management of Florestal Gateados Ltda company. In all, 60 questionnaires were applied, before and after undertaking the Trail, to 31 students of the Lúcia Fernandes Lopes School of Basic Education, from Lages city - SC and 29 students of the Environmental Protectors Course from São José do Cerrito city - SC. Most of the students who answered the questionnaire had never visited an ecological trail before and afterwards, showed interest in returning to the Valdir Diehl Ribeiro Ecological Trail, as well as visiting other ecological trails in the region. The responses also showed that ecological trails had contributed to improving the students performance in class. The attained results showed that ecological trails can be considered as a valuable pedagogical resource for environmental education and through the questionnaires applied, it was possible to conclude that the visit to the Valdir Diehl Ribeiro Ecological Trail was an effective tool to raise the students' awareness. Still, it was concluded that the lessons learned during the trail influenced the change of concepts related to environmental conservation, qualifying the visitors as agents of transformation, thus developing values and skills that will lead them to rethink and evaluate daily attitudes and their consequences in the environment in which they live.