Environmental Education, indispensable for Sustainable Development in Mozambique

Manuel works for the Ministry for Environmental Coordination, MICOA, in the province of Gaza, southwestern Mozambique. During the war, he studied in Cuba. When he returned to Mozambique, he wanted to dedicate his life to the reconstruction of his country. Since then he has dedicated his whole life to environmental education, trying to transmit to the community, day after day, his passion for nature, demonstrating that preserving the environment is essential for the peace and well-being of future generations.
The Ministry for Environmental Coordination, MICOA, is implementing a strategy for environmental protection at the community level. This strategy aims to educate communities about the need to protect natural resources. In 2012, MICOA trained 289 educators to work in selected communities in various districts across Mozambique. Priority was given to communities with high levels of environmental degradation and highly vulnerable to climate change. Communities were trained on issues such as avoiding uncontrolled fires, deforestation, biodiversity conservation, recycling, as well as organizing their territorial space for the purpose of reducing poverty.
MICOA used three types of environmental education: formal education, informal education and non-formal education.
In formal education, work is conducted in schools.

Informal environmental education is conducted in the communities themselves.

Non-formal education is environmental education conducted through the media.

Like Manuel, thousands of environmental educators are working hard around the world to prepare current and future generations to shape the future we want. Environmental Education should be considered a priority investment if we want future generations to see the world as we know it today.

To find out more about Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) : https://www.unpei.org/