Social representations and directing to the environmental education in the Perobas Biological Reserve, State of Paraná, Brazil

The Perobas Biological Reserve is situated in the Brazilian municipalities of Tuneiras do Oeste and Cianorte, State of Paraná. Prior to the foundation, the local and state communities’ representatives manifested different standpoints, favorable and unfavorable, concerning the establishment of this environmental protection area. Considering the importance of comprehending social representations that students from the City of Tuneiras do Oeste have concerning the Perobas Biological Reserve, the present study aimed at investigating Basic Education students, as well as indicating ways for an environmental education development. We used the Free Evocation of Words technique and the analysis of composition contents. We identified that representations of the analyzed group are based on the Nature components present in the Reserve and on the role of the local inhabitants for their conservation, however such knowledge is not well-founded. We understand that educative actions must be initiated in order to proportionate the construction of knowledge concerning the Reserve′s Nature components and the mutual interactions involved. This knowledge can, subsequently, lead students to comprehend that a role is ascribed to them in the protection and the co-responsibility for the preservation of the protected area.