E.E. Cepero Varela
Eudel Eduardo Cepero Varela is head of the Soil Conservation Group at the Camagüey Branch of the National Office for Agricultural Projects, and general coordinator of the Rio Máximo Watershed Management Project in Camagüey, Cuba.
Using materials produced in the course of watershed management projects as teaching aids to stimulate environmental awareness in local schools.
Schoolchildren using materials from the Santa Cruz watershed project
During the formulation, design and implementation of a watershed management and development project, the various experts, technicians, policy-makers and field staff involved churn out a wealth of technical information in the form of plans, reports, tables, diagrams and sketches.
This information generally covers aspects such as climate, vegetation, soil, terrain, hydrography, population and standards of living. Environmental assessments are also made on soil erosion, deforestation, water contamination and so on, to evaluate the situation and plan the changes necessary to protect the interests of the local population. Unfortunately, much of this up-to-date information is filed away in various institutions in the course of the project and, on its termination, in the best of cases ends up in technical libraries to serve as reference.
All the information previously mentioned could be used to provide material for the teaching of natural and social sciences in schools situated in a project area (and in those of neighboring areas with close socioeconomic ties).
These thorough, up-to-the-minute documents make invaluable support material for the basic texts and other resources used by teachers and, at the same time, provide direct reference material on local areas near the school, thereby informing students and helping them develop requisite skills and practices and promoting environmentally responsible attitudes. Some of the plans and maps can also serve as teaching aids, particularly in rural schools.
Thus, projects will have a dual educational impact: they will improve the quality of teaching in their area and approach teaching in such a way as to provide future generations (the students) with exposure to and extension and training on environmental matters.
Coordination and cooperation between management of a watershed project and school administrators must be a prerequisite if the idea is to get off the ground. Educational institutions will be given the project materials to study and modify for pedagogical and methodology purposes, and to see which subject areas and materials can be used at different educational levels in the watershed area. They will also select maps and plans for use in class, making any necessary changes.
In sum, the educational authorities should determine how the results of this cooperation are to be passed on to the schools, but the local teachers and project experts and technical staff should also be consulted for their opinions and advice.
Once the various contacts have been established, general instruction in geography, biology, chemistry and perhaps physics and mathematics in the region can be based on the reality of the school's environmental surroundings. Polytechnic schools, teaching specialist subjects such as agriculture, forestry and economics, will be able to use the project materials more easily and in greater depth with their students.
By way of example, an integrated watershed management project is now under way in the Rio Máximo catchment area (700 km2) in northeastern Camagüey, the largest of Cuba's provinces (total area, 15837 km2). This project has separate components for each of the three subwatersheds feeding the Rio Máximo.
Section of a map from the Santa Cruz watershed project
Since 1982, the project has been experimentally linked with schools in the first of these areas, Santa Cruz, named after the river which drains it. The watershed covers 8683 ha and has 2809 inhabitants. The team of experts responsible for watershed management was joined by a seasoned expert from the Ministry of Provincial Education who was charged with:
· identifying and quantifying the schools involved;
· establishing the teaching levels;
· examining the reports, plans, maps and other documents produced during the subwatershed survey;
· preparing a pamphlet for use by teachers and students as textbook backup material;
· selecting plans and maps that have teaching potential.
Once this was done, consultations were set up with the educational authorities in the province and in the three municipalities administering the subwatershed. In this way, the initiative gained institutional recognition and approval and was granted access to the seven schools selected for participation.
The expert in question organized methodology sessions in the six primary schools and the only secondary school in the area. He also distributed the pamphlet to be used as supplementary reading material and a set of 1:25000-scale maps (land use and tenure, environmental assessment and land-use planning).
The pamphlet contains:
· an introduction, listing the objectives and explaining the importance of the exercise;
· methodological guidelines, defining the levels, grades, subjects and units for its use;
· a main section, covering the physical and economic characteristics of the watershed, and environmental protection;
· conclusions, including an explanation on how to use the material.
The scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in September 1993 at the start of the school year. Feedback has so far been positive and the initiative has been very well received by the teachers.
The general feeling is that the quality of instruction has benefited from the greater relevance and detail introduced into the teaching of natural sciences, into the theoretical and practical study of the area and into discussions on local environmental degradation as well as other themes. The maps are also considered important as teaching aids.
Other indirect benefits, such as the availability of additional reference material to explain general concepts with specific examples from the subwatershed, are also appreciated.
As to sharpening environmental awareness, this is a medium-range prospect that will only bear fruit when today's students become economically active.
This technique appears to be an effective way of helping schools and the education system in general to build up the necessary environmental awareness to ensure the survival of the natural resource base.
Work is currently under way to introduce the experiment in the other Rio Máximo subwatersheds. It is hoped that this second stage will be completed by the end of the 1994 school year.
Since 1992, the environmental awareness of the watershed inhabitants has been assessed through surveys and other techniques which are to be maintained for the next eight years, with annual comparative analyses also planned. Together with the project findings and other reports, this will provide an overall evaluation of the experiment.
FAO. 1983. Management of upland watersheds. participation of the mountain communities. FAO Conservation Guide No. 8 Rome.
FAO. 1988a. Watershed management field manual. Slope treatment measures and practices. FAO Conservation Guide No. 13/3. Rome.
FAO. 1988b. Guidelines for economic appraisal of watershed management projects. FAO Conservation Guide No. 16. Rome.
Michaelsen, T. 1991. Participatory approaches in watershed management planning. Unasylva, 42(164): 3-7.
Van Ginneken, P. & Thongmee, U. 1991. Attempting integrated watershed development in Phu Wiang, Thailand. Unasylva, 42(164): 8-15.
