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Reforestation
Program as an Environmental Alternative in the Recovery of Recreation and
Leisure Spaces
Author: Emerita Molina Contreras
Universidad
Pedagógica Experimental Libertador, UPEL
Barinas,
Venezuela
Abstract
The
purpose of this research is to develop a reforestation program as an
environmental alternative in the recovery of recreational and leisure spaces in
the Morrocoy Abajo Community, Sector I, San Silvestre Parish, Barinas
Municipality, Barinas State. In what refers. To the methodological aspect, the
study focuses on the qualitative paradigm, having as support the ethnographic
method, it is considered as a technique to use the interview, as for the key
informants, three (03) were considered, which were chosen according to the
criterion of the researcher, according to the actors that are considered
binding: neighboring knowledgeable of the environmental matter belonging to the
community under study. As a conclusion, mention can be made of the fact that
the research is currently in the process of being developed, being able to
establish that organized communities handle specific strategies for the
integration of these, where timely guidance as a social process leads to
participation active and effective of those involved; from there, this approach
indicates that the process of community participation must be relevant to the
needs of the individual-society where it is carried out.
Keywords: environmental education; environment; forest
management.
|
Date Received: 17-06-2017 |
Date Acceptance: 07-10-2017 |
Programa
de Reforestación como Alternativa Ambiental en la Recuperación de Espacios de
Recreación y Esparcimiento
Resumen
La presente
investigación tiene como propósito desarrollar un programa de reforestación
como alternativa ambiental en la recuperación de espacios de recreación y
esparcimiento en la Comunidad Morrocoy Abajo sector I, Parroquia San Silvestre,
Municipio Barinas, Estado Barinas. En lo que refiere. Al aspecto metodológico,
el estudio se enfoca en el paradigma cualitativo, teniendo como apoyo el método
etnográfico, se considera como técnica a utilizar la entrevista, en cuanto a los informantes
claves se consideraron tres (03), los cuales, fueron
elegidos a criterio de la investigadora, según los actores que se consideran vinculantes: vecinos conocedores de la materia ambiental
pertenecientes a la comunidad en estudio. Como conclusión, se puede hacer mención al hecho de que la
investigación se encuentra actualmente en proceso de desarrollo, pudiendo
establecer que, las comunidades organizadas, manejan estrategias específicas
para la integración de estas, donde la orientación oportuna como un proceso
social conlleva a la participación activa y efectiva de los involucrados; de
allí, este planteamiento, señala que el proceso de participación comunitaria
debe ser pertinente a las necesidades del individuo-sociedad donde se lleve a
cabo.
Palabras clave:
educación ambiental; medio ambiente; gestión forestal.
|
Fecha de Recepción: 17-06-2017 |
Fecha de Aceptación: 07-10-2017 |
1. Introduction
The environmental deterioration is observable in the
global context, hence there are species in danger of extinction, pollution,
felling and burning of forests, accelerated population growth, threatened
biodiversities, habitat degradation, fishing exploitation not accepted by the
norms, these being the main problems that the environment faces. Therefore,
environmental education, as an educational process for each individual,
families, communities, society and the State must be reoriented to contribute
to the achievement of sustainable development, in this way Córdoba (2002):
Environmental education
is an excellent process that, satisfactorily focused, programmed, executed and
evaluated in the different groups and sectors of our societies, can renew and
stimulate the political, economic, social and cultural processes of our
countries to help minimize poverty, illiteracy, lack of education, lack of
health services and other contemporary global problems, including problems of
the global environment (p.85).
Under this perspective, it is evident that today more
than ever a will and interest of a policy that prioritizes the development of
the Triad is needed: environmental protection, sustainable development and
environmental education as part of political, economic, social and economic
life. historical-cultural of each nation, to elevate the quality of life and
well-being of human development. One of the environmental problems that has
caused serious natural deterioration has been deforestation, with greater
impact on the headwaters of the rivers, which produces drought in these,
deteriorating any ecosystem that are part of the water sources.
Therefore, to reforest, then becomes, in addition to a
school and educational practice, a moral and social commitment of both students
and those who are in direct contact with the teaching process; since in
addition to the transmission of knowledge, one must be sufficiently capable of
transmitting values and norms of coexistence both with the human beings
themselves and with nature. Thus, according to Portillo, (2003), he says:
Reforestation is not
limited to the simple massive and anarchic planting of trees, but it implies a
wide range of aspects to be considered, among which we can mention at the
moment, the culture of the care of the already existing vegetation, the care of
the trees that they should be planted, reflect on the importance of
transmitting a better world to the next generations, make ecological activities
become everyday situations of human activity, in short, make reforestation a
fundamental aspect of education in particular, and of life in general (p.143).
In this sense, the environment suffers strong impacts
from the activities of man; where 24% of the Earth's biogeographic systems have
been completely transformed by this and only 51.9% remain well preserved and
globally, more than 20 million hectares of forests are lost annually, not
including the large areas that are degraded by uncontrolled forestry practices.
At present, Venezuela is among the top ten countries
with the greatest biodiversity on the planet and sixth in America. The country
also has some 15,000 plants and a huge variety of habitats that include coral
reefs, savannahs, tepuis, morichales, among others.
In addition, it has an extensive network of protected
areas, represented mainly by National Parks, Natural Monuments and Wildlife
Refuges. Unfortunately, Venezuela has one of the highest rates of deforestation
in Latin America, mainly due to the expansion of the agricultural frontier and
the uncontrolled growth of urban areas. The deterioration of the environment in
recent years has been aggravated by illegal land invasions and even in
protected areas, which shows that our country is losing its original vegetation
at a high speed.
In such a way, that conserving the environment means
using natural resources rationally, to achieve a sustainable development that
guarantees that future generations can enjoy natural resources in the same way
as those who inhabit the world at this time.
That is why due to this situation of ecological
imbalance, reforestation plays an elementary role in the education of young
people in the country, since this and its components that contemplate the
planting of trees for production or to protect the environment have environmental
impacts positive where the forest products of reforestation benefit man as they
can be extracted from these: wood, cellulose pulp, poles, fruit, fibers and
fuels, community groves and trees that farmers grow around their homes or land.
Plantations offer the best alternative to the
exploitation of natural forests to meet the demand for wood and other fuel
products. The plantations that are made for the production of wood, usually use
the fastest growing species and access and exploitation are easier than in the
case of natural forests because they give more uniform and marketable products.
Likewise, community plantations for the production of firewood and fodder, near
the villages, facilitate the access of users to these goods and, at the same
time, help to alleviate the pressure on the local vegetation, which may be the
cause of the cut. and excessive grazing.
It is important to highlight the importance of
plantations in the recovery of green areas, which are important for recreation
and recreation, considering that both meet basic human needs to play, interact,
play sports, enjoy outdoor activities which contribute to integral human
development.
In this sense Cantor (2008), has pointed out that:
Recreation
areas are places, which contribute to improving the quality of life of the
inhabitants of a certain place, they become perfect enclaves to be able to
fight against stress and anxiety, in the same way, that encourage the
creativity of the individuals, of The same way they allow them to interact with
nature, creating an awareness, in favor of the conservation of the environment
(p.163).
That is why the recovery of these spaces of recreation
and recreation, lead to a real awareness of the conditions and demands that the
environment requires to be adapted to human processes without altering it,
since the creation provides a change of pace of everyday life It refreshes the
individual allows to maintain a balance of its physical, mental, emotional,
social and spiritual dimensions. Contributes to a satisfying, enjoyable and
abundant life.
Therefore, the Barinas state is no stranger to the
problems that arise as a global threat, such as deforestation, which has
brought as a serious effect, the decay of the vegetation layer, evaluating that
this is one of the states of our country, with an index in the obtaining of
wood, and the indiscriminate felling, which has caused, the weakening of the
terrestrial layer and therefore the extinction of the forests, thus giving rise
to the desertification of the green areas region of. In this sense, this
reality is observable in the Morroco Community and under sector I, San
Silvestre Parish, Barinas Municipality, Barinas State, where the disappearance
of forest and ornamental species that provide protection to recreational and
leisure spaces in the different zones of community; consequently, this need
simplifies the research oriented towards the development of a reforestation
program as an environmental alternative in the recovery of recreational and
leisure spaces, all in the search to promote the subsistence of tree species
and generate a social welfare in community.
2.
Theory and Concepts
2.1. Environmental
Impacts of Reforestation
Reforestations and their components that include the
planting of trees for production or to protect the environment have positive
and negative environmental impacts. Forest products from reforestation include:
wood, cellulose pulp, poles, fruit, fibers and fuels, community groves and
trees that farmers grow around their homes or land. Protection-oriented
activities include trees planted to stabilize slopes and fix sand dunes,
protective strips, agro-afforestation systems, live fences and shade trees.
Regarding the environmental impact of reforestation,
positive and negative aspects can be mentioned, this process has, in some
cases, produced plantations of fast-growing and short-cycle trees which can
lead to the depletion of soil nutrients and reduce the fertility of the space
where plantations are located.
2.2. Green areas
According to Nilson (2010), the green areas have been
acquiring a relevance directly proportional to the growth of the population in
the cities. In Venezuela, around 85% of the population lives in urban
environments, which means, a greater consumption of energy and natural
resources, which brings with it many adverse environmental, social and economic
consequences, among other problems that affect the quality of life of a
community.
Some countries maintain important lags in the integral
provision of services, which increases inequalities and propitiates problems
typical of large cities; for this reason, in the great majority of cases, they
are directly related to the lack of green spaces. Improving living conditions
in urban areas is a priority task for various governmental and civil sectors,
which recognize that the sustainable management of urban green areas
contributes to the environmental, social and economic well-being of urban
societies and should be a indispensable part of any environmental strategy of
sustainable and sustainable development of cities.
2.3. Importance
of the Green Areas for Biodiversity and the Environment.
For 15
years he has collected and classified the species of all the insects he has
found in his garden. For example, it has received visits of 34% of all
indigenous species of butterflies, 30% of all indigenous species of nocturnal
moths and 36% of all indigenous species of Syrphus. Although its garden is very
common, it has extraordinarily dense flower beds and a good mix of cultivated
and non-cultivated plants. However, many urban green areas do not present a
particularly rich biodiversity. Most of them settled with large paved surfaces,
gravelled areas, well-sown greens and isolated individual trees.
According
to Nowak (2011), trees intercept particles of matter and absorb gaseous
pollutants such as ozone, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, thus removing
them from the atmosphere. Trees also emit various volatile organic compounds
such as isoprene and mono terpenes that contribute to the formation of ozone in
cities. Through the transpiration of water and shaded surfaces, the trees
reduce the temperature of the air. It concludes that because trees reduce air
temperature, shade buildings in summer and slow down winter winds, they can
help reduce energy consumption in buildings and consequently reduce the
emission of pollutants from generating facilities. of energy.
Protective
plantations along densely trafficked roads and around industrial areas are,
therefore, an effective means of reducing air pollution. But this, undoubtedly
can not be taken as an excuse to ignore the fight against pollution in its origin.
Although plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, it is important not
to assign plants an excessive importance for the urban environment.
2.4. Importance
of plants for living beings
According to Soler (2012), plants are
extremely useful. On the one hand, they provide the necessary oxygen to
breathe. But they also provide nutrients for food. Vegetables are essential
because apart from regenerating the oxygen that is breathed, living beings
provide food and raw materials for the industry and many other benefits, such
as fixing the soil so that the land does not become an infertile desert.
2.5. Ornamental
Plants
According to Fernandez (2012), an
ornamental plant is one that is grown and marketed with the main purpose of
showing its beauty, there are many plants that have a dual use, food and
ornamental like the olive tree and the orange tree.
Live ornamental plants are those that are
sold with or without a pot but that are prepared to be transplanted or simply
transported to the destination. In agriculture, ornamental plants are usually
grown outdoors in nurseries or with a light protection under plastic or in a
heated or controlled temperature greenhouse. The importance of the ornamental
plants has increased with the economic development of the society and the increase
of the landscaped areas in the cities, and with the use of plants of outside
and interior by the individuals. Currently there are more than 3,000 plants
that are considered ornamental.
2.6. Environmental
Education
With regard to environmental education,
there is scope for its definition and importance in the conservation of the
environment, it is considered to be a new form that facilitates the formation
of individuals, where they are able to understand how complex the balance of
the environment is , in all its facets, hence the importance of transmitting
information in a different way, regarding its functioning in the same way this
training will contribute to the formation of a more critical being, which will
allow it to adopt new forms of behavior with the environment that surrounds it,
in the same way the environmental education, allows to develop values, from
there the importance of form in the institutions, taking into consideration the
applicability of the diverse strategies, that for it is required.
3. Methodology
In the analysis of the
frame that determines the present study, it is pertinent to clarify that
according to Ruiz (2008), "the nature of an investigation includes the way
of doing science, adopted by the scientific community, in a determined historical
moment" (p.9); that is, it supposes a set of ideas, beliefs and conceptual
structures that allow interpreting reality; a particular way or method of
investigating said reality and a set of specific problems.
In this way, the present
research assumes the qualitative methodology, typical of the social sciences,
which in the opinion of Taylor and Bogdan (2002), qualitative research refers
to "research that produces descriptive data: people's own words , spoken
or written and observable behavior" (p.20), because the participation in
socio-economic development for the prosperity of the Community Morrocoy Abajo
sector I, San Silvestre Parish, Barinas Municipality, Barinas State is examined
analytically.
From the perspective of the
qualitative paradigm, it is unacceptable to separate thought and reality, you
have the conviction about a reality modeled and constructed by thoughts, where
you investigate; according to Goetz (2000), he emphasizes, "as it forms
part of that reality, from the perspective and possibility to know it, so
between the subject of the research and the object that speaks a relationship
of interdependence and interaction is established" (p.36). Therefore,
qualitative research is considered because its focus of attention coincides
with the detailed descriptions of situations, events, people, interactions and
behaviors that are observable, incorporating the participants' voices, their
experiences, attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and reflections. and how they are
expressed by themselves.
In this context of
qualitative research, the research method is defined, where it is worth
mentioning that in the present study he used the ethnographic method as a
method of descriptive compilation that addresses the reality of the existing
problem in the research presented, in this sense Woods (2007), defines it as
the research method by which "you learn the way of life of a specific
social unit, which can be a family, a class, a faculty or a school" (p.84).
It is used to refer to the description of the way of life of a group of
individuals. It is perhaps the best known and used method to analyze the
practice of social behaviors, describe it from the point of view of the people
who participate in it and approach a social situation. According to the complexity
of the unit, the ethnographic method establishes a continuum between the macro
ethnographies, which pursue the description and interpretation of complex
societies, up to the micro ethnography, whose social unit is given by a
specific social situation.
Therefore, with regard to
the stages to be fulfilled, we will address the issues raised by Martínez
(2013), which considers:
Previous stage: Social
actors, data collection techniques, information analysis techniques,
theoretical documentation (references and previous studies) will be selected.
Descriptive stage: it
constitutes in the analysis of the interviews and observations in order to
highlight the most important indicators that explain the study, as well as the
comparison between the different opinions, to contrast the latent reality.
Structural Stage: it
will focus on the interpretation of the categories, for which the reduction
technique will be used, which will allow selecting the most relevant aspects of
the informants, establishing the similarities and differences between them.
Discussion of Results:
once part of the information has been processed, triangulations will be
applied, which will determine the coincidences of the problem under study, to
be able to make value judgments in relation to the study, these are,
interpretations, relationships, analysis, theorization, among others.
3.1. Informants
For Taylor (1987), the informant is a
person able to provide information on the element of study, as well as being a
key informant, a person who locates in the field and assists in the process of
selecting participants in the case of interviews or focus groups. Both concepts
also come from ethnography, with the doorman being the person who facilitated
the entry and the key informant the person who completed the generation of
information from the participant observation through informal interviews.
Therefore, the key informants are people who allow qualitative researchers to
approach and understand in depth the reality that they want to study in the
social field.
According
to the informants or social actors that are part of the research addressed in
the community of Morroco and below sector I, it is estimated (03) participants
who were chosen at the researcher's discretion, according to the actors
considered binding: knowledgeable neighbors of the environmental matter, with
years of being in contact with the living forces of the community.
3.2. Technique and Information
Collection Instrument
Hernández, Fernández and Baptista (2010), indicates the existence of
different types of measurement instruments, each with different
characteristics, therefore, it is necessary to clarify that in an investigation
there are two options regarding the measurement instrument. Choose an
instrument already developed and available, which adapts to the requirements of
the particular study; build a new measuring instrument according to the
appropriate technique for it; a research process has no validity without the
systematic application of data collection techniques, since they lead to the verification
of the problem posed. Each type of research will determine the specific
techniques to be used and each technique establishes its tools, instruments or
means that will be used.
It should be noted that in qualitative research
it uses multiple and useful techniques, however, for the study the author
considers the interview very useful for the object of study. In this way the
technique of the interview was applied to three (3) individuals belonging to
the community to the object of study.
Regarding the instruments of records of the
interviews, recorder and reminder sheets were used. All with the intention of
giving fidelity to the answers and opinions for a better use of the data. On
the other hand, the documentary review was used with the purpose of extracting
from the written material information related to reforestation as an
environmental alternative in the recovery of recreational and leisure spaces,
in order to triangulate it with other techniques for gathering information.
It is achieved in Sierra (2003), the following:
Men not only have senses that
allow them to observe social phenomena at the moment they occur, but with the
structure they express these observations through signs... All this arsenal of
writings, films, photographs, reproductions of sounds and objects of all kinds
are documents and constitute the object of documentary observation (p.283).
This author highlights the
technique of review and documentary analysis, by stating the following: in
terms of current research, it is an indispensable complement to other means of
observing social reality. What will contribute to the present investigation a
useful technique for the collection of information.
3.3. Information Credibility
The credibility and validity of an
investigation, according to the one pointed out by Corbetta (2007), has a high
level of validity if observing, measuring or appreciating a reality is
observed, measured or appreciated that reality and not another, which leads to
that validity is defined as the degree or level at which the results of the
research reflect a clear and representative image of a given situational
reality; This fact constitutes internal validity.
In order to establish the validity
of the information, the triangulation of the information of the social actors
involved in the research and the techniques used was used. In this order
Martínez (2008), argues:
… The credibility of
information can vary greatly: informants can lie, omit data or have a distorted
view of things. It will be necessary to contrast it with that of others or pick
it up at different times: triangulation with different sources of information
and with different methods can be very valuable (p.120).
The credibility of the information collected was carried out by
triangulating the information, contrasting the information of the three
interviewees, with which a clear and representative image of the given
situation was obtained. Likewise, the information obtained from the two
techniques to be used, the interview and the documentary analysis were
triangulated.
4. Conclusions
As final conclusions, mention can be made of the fact
that the research is currently in the process of development, being able to
establish that organized communities handle specific strategies for the
integration of these, where timely guidance as a social process leads to the
active and effective participation of those involved; Hence, this approach
indicates that the process of community participation must be relevant to the
needs of the individual-society where it is carried out.
Then, the directionality of the integration among the
members of a community will be permanent and should be progressively
reinforced, because this must be modeled with the participation of the
community and serve as support for it, maintaining contact with all the actors
to improve their services and be useful; in which each member of the community
must be a social promoter to stimulate the participation and leader to turn
this into a space of life and health according to the characteristics of that
community.
It should be noted, reforestation provides a series of
environmental benefits and services. By restoring or increasing tree cover,
soil fertility is increased and its retention of moisture, structure and
nutrient content is improved (reducing leaching, providing green fertilizer and
adding nitrogen, in case the species used are from this type), hence the
importance of the present study.
On the other hand, tree cover also helps to reduce the
rapid flow of rainwater, thus regulating the flow of rivers, improving water
quality and reducing the entry of sediment into surface waters. Under the
trees, cooler temperatures and moderate wet and dry cycles constitute a
favorable microclimate for microorganisms and wildlife; helps prevent soil
laterization. The plantations have a moderating effect on the winds and help to
settle the dust and other particles of the air.
By incorporating trees, environmental conditions can
be improved, thanks to their positive effects on land and climate. Finally, the
plant cover established by the development of large-scale plantations and the
planting of trees, is a means of absorbing carbon, a short-term response to
global warming caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
atmosphere. That is why the study acquires educational relevance, because, by
promoting the planting of trees, as part of an educational forestry program, it
allows raising awareness both in the school and in the community where it is
located.
5.
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Emérita Molina Contreras
e-mail: emeritacontreras71@gmail.com
Born in Camatuche, Barinas State, Venezuela. He is
studying a master's degree in Environmental Education and Development at the Universidad
Pedagógica Experimental Libertador, (UPEL) Center Barinas. Bachelor
of Education Mention: Spanish and Literature, Universidad Nacional Experimental
de los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora (UNELLEZ) Barinas.
He is currently teaching as a Classroom Teacher in
Primary Education. He has participated in courses of: Personal Growth and
Corporate Image, Dynamic Games and Songs, Values and Personal Development,
Calligraphy, Spelling and Writing, Crafts, Classroom Pedagogical Project,
National Basic Curriculum, Windows XP Operator, Newspaper Magic. I also participate
in the Workshops of Awareness, Public Speaking, Community Social Work and
Community First Aid.
The
content of this manuscript is disseminated under a Creative Commons License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
- Original Version in
Spanish -
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29394/Scientific.issn.2542-2987.2018.3.7.6.121-139