Desertificação da caatinga: educação ambiental na base da solução

Abstract

The Brazilian Semi-Arid Region (SAB), where the morpho-climatic domain of the Caatinga predominates, presents a large part of its territory susceptible to the process of desertification, presenting, in association with unsustainable practices of agropastoral and extractive systems, critical “spots” in its territory called Nuclei of Desertification (ND); one of the most worrying and evident in this area is that of Irauçuba, in the state of Ceará. The city that gives the name to this nucleus is known to suffer, both in natural and social spheres, by the environmental degradation caused by the activities of extractivism, intensive agriculture and, above all, overgrazing. Several research projects are carried out in this city, but few Environmental Education projects do such a thing to combat desertification, these methodologies being very valuable in the long term to mitigate such problems. A practical and efficient way to disseminate necessary information during the Environmental Education process is the use of educational booklets. In this sense, the objective of this work is to develop an environmental education booklet with contents aimed at desertification in the Caatinga of Irauçuba’s environment, aiming to combat soil degradation and future scenarios of desertified environments. Its target audience was established for high school students in the city, so that its preparation was conceived with simple and humorous language and with regional elements and from the Caatinga of Irauçuba itself. Its production was based on illustrations and informative texts about the Caatinga and its biogeographic and climatic elements and about the problems of desertification and how to combat it. As main characters, the Jureminha tree was developed based on the black Jurema plant (Mimosa tenuiflora), and its friends microorganisms of the soil and its rhizosphere. As main characters, the Jureminha tree was developed, which was based on the black Jurema plant (Mimosa tenuiflora), and its friends microorganisms of the soil and its rhizosphere. Finally, such content was developed in an interactive story and, in addition, in a card game about the impact of desertification in the caatinga. It is hoped that the booklet can, in the future, be validated and improved for the purpose of use as a school and community information material in the city of Irauçuba, becoming a valuable tool for raising awareness and social approach to the problem of desertification.