“What’s your favorite animal?”
This is the question that team members from our Bolivian sister organization Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA asked children from local communities in the Amazon to understand how they are connected to their environment. To their surprise, most of the answers they received were elephants, giraffes, and lions, as opposed to locally found species such as the jaguar or giant otter.
To encourage these children to learn more about their local environment, Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA created a series of comics to tell the stories of Amazonian animals called “Once Upon a Time in Your Forest.” In these comics, these animals in the Amazon tell stories of their habitats, and how certain conflicts with humans affect their food sources, shelter, and overall environment. By telling these stories from the animal’s perspective, these children can gain a better understanding of respecting their habitat and learning to coexist with these species. Executive Director of Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA Marcos Terán explained that “it is important to encourage children’s relationships with nature. The educational curriculum should promote this with the support of the teachers, with the aim that future generations respect their environment by making conscious use of natural resources.”
The most recent comic No. 5 tells the story of the Anteater, who details his role in the ecosystem, threats to his species, and the importance of conservation spaces to protect their habitats.
English copies are now available to download! Copies in Spanish can be found here.