“Behind the image of the burning forest, there is a forest with value and values that needs to be protected, managed, ordered and improved”. The challenge launched by Secretary of State Miguel Freitas aims to reach all young people, the main recipients of the new government campaign “Econtigo, Ecomtodos”, launched this Tuesday, March 19, at the Loulé Secondary School.
«The forest needs your determination, determination, wisdom and confidence». The phrase, taken from the promotional video of this campaign, embodies what this new movement wants to be: an alert to the consciences of young people regarding the need to preserve this natural resource.
For this purpose, it was created a site with a quizzes, whose main objective is to let young people know how they can contribute to helping the forest. Furthermore, on this portal, the various professions related to this area are shown.
João Costa, Secretary of State for Education, was also present at this session and highlighted the need "to make young people aware that there are paths, both in Secondary and Higher Education, dedicated to the forest and that they have enormous employability."
“When young people access the portal, they have the opportunity to see the paths they can take. We work here on the part of citizenship, the environmental issue, sustainable development, but we also have, for those who are reaching the end of schooling, pointing out the possible paths», he added.
Returning to the issue of forests, Miguel Freitas began his speech, in front of dozens of attentive students, saying that «nature is very complex and we have to understand the complexity of things».
“We are in a time of change. We feel that the forest we have is not the one we want. We have to change quickly and we are looking to have a model that better protects it,” he added.
For the Secretary of State, the image that many people have of the forests are the “fires”, a situation that is even more accentuated among young people, used to watching these catastrophes on television.
“We are looking to change that image, but it is important to mention that fire is part of the forest. We have to be better prepared to fight it», explained Miguel Freitas to the young people of Loulé. In the audience was also Matilde Alvim, one of the faces of the movement that promoted the Student Climate Strike, which came from Palmela.
But anyone who thinks that this was a session in which only the secretaries of state had the opportunity to intervene would be wrong.
On the part of the students, there were those who made a point of asking what is being done to mitigate the destruction caused by the fires.
Miguel Freitas responded, alluding to the clearing of land, the projects “Secure People Safe Villages”, sapper goats and the construction of 11200 kilometers of “forest protection” roads, allowing, for example, to improve access to those fighting a fire.
Pedro de Sá, 11th grade student, answered. “I think measures such as making kilometers of road are not correct. It affects forests and biodiversity», he considered.
The Secretary of State saw the participation of students as a good “provocation”. “This is why we chose to promote this movement in schools. The school is a place where, above all, we look for provocation and that's what we found here», he told the journalists at the end.
The young student Pedro, however, did not diminish the content of the criticisms. “The Government is not doing what it should. There are mistakes from the past that have not yet been fixed. I live near Monchique and, in the fire last summer, there was a lot of lack of information», he accused.
But, one thing is certain: this government campaign is “important”, in the student's understanding. “We learned to think about these issues and not Swallow without answering. This sensitized me and I will do what I can to help the forest», he guaranteed.
The aim is that, like Pedro de Sá, the “Econtigo, Ecomtodos” movement will alert many other young people. Another 100 schools will receive conversations like the one that took place this Tuesday in Loulé, covering a total of 3 students.
In the Algarve there will be another five schools: the Secondary Schools Padre António Martins de Oliveira (Lagoa), João de Deus, Pinheiro and Rosa (Faro), Laura Ayres (Quarteira) and Vila Real de Santo António. All the others will also take note of the initiative, offering a kit so that young people can do this quizzes and get into the movement.
A second moment of the campaign takes place in May so that the pace is not lost. It will be a camp, in Albergaria-a-Velha, where the «young people will be in contact with the forest».
So, you already know: now it's “Econtigo, Ecomtodos” in forest prevention.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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