Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA Teaches Young Students the Importance of Protecting Water Resources

March 27, 2024

Our Bolivian sister organization Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA recently organized an environmental education training workshop with the Cobija Municipal Environmental Brigade and the Cobija Water and Sanitation Company (EPSAS) to educate young 4th and 5th-grade students about the importance of caring for their water systems that stem from Arroyo Bahía: the main water source for Cobija and surrounding communities. 

This workshop was part of an ongoing project to help protect and manage water resources from the Arroyo Bahía Conservation Area (a conservation area we helped create in 2022 known as the Natural Area of Comprehensive Management of the Arroyo Bahía Basin – ANGICAB). Since the creation of ANGICAB in April of 2022, the Autonomous Municipal Government of Cobija, in alliance with Conservación Amazónica- ACEAA and funded by the World Wildlife Fund – Sweden, launched the project titled Protegiendo el Arroyo Bahía, Garantizamos Agua para Cobija (Protecting the Arroyo Bahía, We Guarantee Water for Cobija). Through this project that began in April 2023, they intend to continue helping the residents of Cobija apply measures and actions that promote the conservation of ANGICAB, take advantage of non-timber forest resources, and collect solid waste in the ANGICAB and its area of influence for subsequent recycling. 

The workshop carried out by the Cobjija Municipal Environmental Brigade  and EPSAS aimed at educating these young students to understand where their water comes from, the value of the ANGICAB protected area, and impactful changes they can implement in their daily routine to save water in their homes. The following topics were also covered during this workshop: 

  • Getting to know the ANGICAB Protected Area
  • Economic importance of Amazonian species 
  • Managing forests, water resources and watersheds 
  • Reducing pollution in water sources
  • Climate change, resilience and adaptation

Since Arroyo Bahía is the main water source  for the entire city of Cobija, its protection and correct  management of existing natural resources is very important to guarantee access to clean water for its residents. Teaching them the values of ANGICAB highlights the importance of conserving these bodies of water and the forests that surround them to ensure a healthy and natural ecosystem, along with the fauna and flora that inhabit them.

Multiple education trainings and workshops meetings have been held for teachers, educational students and young people from different groups since the beginning of this project, and has shown relative success in changing attitudes towards the integrity of ANGICAB. By raising awareness for this protected area, surrounding communities can help keep their water sources safe and protected for both the residents and wildlife that depend on them.