Students Participate in 46th Eco-Visits Program for Environmental Education and Recreation

Santo Domingo, May 21, 2014

Some two hundred and forty public school students participated in the 46th Eco-Visits Program for Environmental Education and Recreation, promoted by the Dominican Ministry of Environment’s Department of Education and Environmental Training.

The event, which was organized in coordination with GFDD/FUNGLODE, began 9:30 am singing the notes of our Dominican National Anthem. Followed by the song "A Resforestar " performed by students of Altos de los Naranjos school, accompanied by the author Claudio Cohen.

Manuel Amézquita, executive assistant at FUNGLODE, gave the welcoming words at the event. He referred to how important it is for GFDD/FUNGLODE to be able to open its doors to the Dominican people and keep them informed about the various initiatives it carries out in the community.

Antonio Matarranz, Technical Coordinator for the Ministry’s Department of Environmental Education and Culture, stated that through this initiative, concrete elements are being incorporated into the learning process of the participants while motivating them to get consciously and actively involved in the dynamics of environmental protection in their schools and communities.

As part of the morning’s proceedings students learned about the Dominican Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) from Reydi Moreta, GFDD’s Social Networking and Production coordinator. Mr. Moreta announced that this year’s film festival will be held from September 10 to 14.

Cristiana Cruz, coordinator of the EcoHuertos program, gave a brief overview of the program presenting images of all the gardens created to date, and talked about how this program has positively impacted various communities where it has been working. “With Eco Huertos, we can eat healthy food, rescue our culture and learn to work together as a team,” said Ms. Cruz.

Similiarly, Bertha Santana presented the ReCrearte program, showing students the different communities and educational centers that have benefitted from learning how to refashion used materials into art. She explained that both the EcoHuertos and ReCrearte programs serve to promote sustainable waste management practices through the three Rs: reduce, recycle and reuse.

The morning program ended with a tour of FUNGLODE’s Juan Bosch Library, and a special film screening of GFDD’s self-produced short film; Garbage or Resource: The Dominican Republic Experience.
Following their visit of the FUNGLODE installations, the students were taken, in groups, to the National Botanical Garden, the Dominican Zoological Park, the National Aquarium and the National Museum of Natural History.

Through this initiative, FUNGLODE and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources seeks to provide middle school students with the opportunity to visit and learn firsthand from organizations that specialize in environmental research and education.

Overall objectives of the Eco-vistas program are to: promote environmental management and sustainable use of natural resources and encourage responsible citizenship; strengthen schools environment education curriculum; and help improve facilities for young students, enhancing their academic and practical experience training.

A generation of students have enjoyed the Eco-visitas program since its inception, motivating and inspiring them to preserve the natural resources and biodiversity of the Dominican Republic. Participating public schools  n 2014 are; Carlito Melo Salazar, Antonio Duvergé, Leonor Nova Volquéz, Altos de los Naranjos, Atabalero Abajo, Elvira de Mendoza, and Vitalia Mordán de la Cruz from the Santo Domingo (National District), Duarte, Boca Chica, and Jimaní provinces respectively.

Links:
www.ambiente.gob.do
www.dreff.org
www.eco-huertos.org
www.r3crearte.org
www.garbage.dreff.org
www.funglode.org

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