Educación ambiental, actitudes y conocimiento de comunidades rurales sobre el Cóndor Andino en el páramo El Almorzadero (Santander, Colombia)

Abstract

Environmental education and community participation are part of the strategic lines established for the conservation of the Andean Condor in Colombia. However, there are few efforts that involve communities in processes of conservation of the species. This work proposed evaluating the attitudes and knowledge of children and adults about the Andean Condor. Environmental education activities were carried out with children from rural schools to raise awareness and recognize the natural and cultural importance of this species. For adults, a problem tree workshop was developed to address the Condor-human conflict and semi-structured interviews were conducted with producers in the region. There were a wide variety of biological, ecological and cultural elements that children linked to the Condor. Children believe that it feeds on live animals and supplement with carrion. This generates that the ecological importance that this species has in the paramo is not valued, nor its importance for the people. For their part, producers in the highlands of the paramo linked the species with more elements than those in the lowlands. The identified damage is the loss of domestic animals due to the Condor. Causes and effects were identified around this problem, highlighting the lack of technical assistance and the economic loss, respectively. Despite the indication of said damages, the general perspective of the interviewees regarding the species is positive. It is important to develop environmental education activities not only in children but also in adults, evaluate the effectiveness of environmental education strategies and link experiences and knowledge of the community to create emotional ties that affect the conservation of the Andean Condor. Finally, it is pertinent to create communication bridges with related entities to strengthen practices for handling domestic animals.