Anyone who walks the bush, unfortunately, already knows that they will find a bunch of garbage dropped by unsuspecting who insist on disrespecting the basics of environmental preservation. In the parks, then, as much as posters and signs are spread to each one to take their trash away, the problem is often more acute, because of the conservation unit itself attracting a frequently lay and unprepared audience. And it was to avoid (or at least minimize) this problem that the São Paulo Forest Foundation has signed an agreement with Gear Tips to form state parks and guides visitors within the concept developed by Leave in Trace (don’t leave tracks, free translation). ,
In Brazil, Leave no Trace, an American non -governmental organization that since 1994 has developed a whole methodology to educate the increasing public that seeks contacts with nature, is represented by Gear Tips, a Brazilian company focused on outdoor activities and sustainability, which has trained over 250 instructors in the last nine months in the Capacitar program.
As Pedro Lacaz Amaral says, CEO of Gear Tips, “some of these people we train already work in conservation units in the state of São Paulo, and from there came the interest of expanding the program within these units.”
The partnership with the Forest Foundation, linked to the Secretariat of Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics of the State, provides for 10 courses, which will be extended to the parks as the necessary resources are captured.
“Our challenge, of course, is this fundraising for the program as a whole,” explains Amaral. “So we will first take two initial courses for the people themselves within the Forest Foundation to better understand the format and importance of these activities and can multiply them,” he adds.
The first conservation unit that will receive Leave’s guidelines in Trace is the Serra do Mar State Park Nucleo Bertioga. “We chose to work first with Bertioga because of these people who are very active there, a very nice job that the teams have been doing,” says Daniel Silva, head of the public use sector and partnerships of the Business Center and partnerships for the sustainability of the Forest Foundation. “From there, we will expand the guidelines, because they will be able to reverberate knowledge to the rest of the team, unfortunately you can not put all employees of each unit in all courses.”
The experience of Gear Tips in the guidance for visitation with minimal impact – which is the essence of the Leave Program in Trace – includes a large qualification curriculum of employees, guides and instructors of Tijuca National Park (fourth largest urban green area in the country), Serra dos Organs, Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Chapada Diamantina National Park, as well as collaborators from ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute of Conservation Biodiversity), Inea (State Environment Institute) and tour guides from various regions, such as Teresópolis, Petrópolis, Serra do Papagaio (MG), Serra da Mantiqueira, among others.
But of course it is not enough to have and pass on information, because there is a lot of visitor who insists on leaving the lick wherever it goes. For those who are caught in the act, baking, making a little heart in the tree in the name of an eternal love that only lasts until the end of the trail, or dropping waste, Silva has the guidance of monitors and guides that accompany eventual groups, and “in the ultimate case, the watchman, who may apply environmental infraction notices.”
But the big difference, he adds, who makes is the local guide properly informed. “We have found that when you have more visitors accompanied by trained monitors, you have less incidence of vandalism and even accidents and incidents,” he says.
That is, once again, as always: do not leave home without a cardigan, without good equipment, carry back everything you take and preferably look for an accredited guide that guides your journey. The environment and who awaits us at home thank you.
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