Mangrove Conservation in Macao SAR, China: The Role of Environmental Education among School Students.

Karen Araño Tagulao,Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros,Loi Hoi Kei,Allan B I Bernardo

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063147

Abstract

Mangrove forests are one of the most ecologically valuable ecosystems in the world and provide a wide variety of ecosystem services to coastal communities, including cities. Macao, a highly urbanized coastal city located on the southern coast of China west of the Pearl River, is home to several species of mangroves with many associated flora and fauna. Mangrove forests in Macao are vulnerable to threats due to pressure from rapid and massive urban developments in the area, which led to mangrove loss in the past decades. To address this issue, the local authorities established special Ecological Zones for the management of the local mangroves. To reinforce local conservation efforts, educating the local population about the value of mangroves, especially school students, is of utmost importance. To evaluate the impact of environmental education activities on the environmental orientation, knowledge, and values of students toward mangrove conservation in Macao, a quasi-experimental study was undertaken. The effectiveness of a mangroves exhibition and field visit were evaluated using the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale—Macao version in a group of local school students who participated in the activities. Overall, the results provided consistently positive evaluations of the impact of the environmental education program. The strongest improvements were found in the students’ pro-environmental orientations, knowledge about mangroves, and value for environmental protection.

Highlights

Mangrove forests are one of the most ecologically valuable and biologically diverse coastal ecosystems in the world, providing a wide range of ecosystem services on a local, regional, and global scale [1,2]
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of environmental education activities on the environmental orientation, knowledge, and values of students toward mangrove conservation in Macao
The ANCOVA provided results related to the covariates and how these interacted with the environmental education activity

Summary

Introduction

Mangrove forests are one of the most ecologically valuable and biologically diverse coastal ecosystems in the world, providing a wide range of ecosystem services on a local, regional, and global scale [1,2]. Mangroves provide intangible but important cultural ecosystem services, such as recreation and tourism [5] and spiritual [6] and scientific value [7]. While most studies on mangroves have been in areas with highly dependent coastal rural communities, urban mangroves (mangroves in and around cities) are attracting more attention as possible solutions to environmental issues that go hand in hand with rapid urbanization [3,8]. They are important in biodiversity preservation and maintenance [9]; coastline stabilization and the protection of coastal cities from storm damage—especially

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