As part of the scientific expedition of Identidad Madidi, the WCS communication team carried out scientific dissemination activities in 50% of the educational units in the cities of La Paz and El Alto. Both cities gather a population of almost 1,7 million people that represent 60% of the population in the Department of La Paz as a whole, and 15% of Bolivia´s population. Additionally, 24% of the schools in the municipalities that are part of the Madidi National Park were also visited. The activities were coordinated with the Vice Ministry of Regular Education and the directors of the education districts of La Paz.
The systematization of the results so far reveals its positive impact on students. Through presentations and educational activities, accompanied by videos of wildlife and testimonies of people from the local communities, it was sought to strengthen the links of students with nature to create their environmental values. The exchange of ideas and reflection on the relationship between the city and natural spaces was encouraged. The topics that caused the greatest interest were the great biodiversity of Bolivia, the natural history of the animals and the discoveries of the new species by the Madidi ID team. At the end of the talks, each student made a commitment to help protect the environment in their daily lives.
During 2018, WCS will continue with scientific dissemination activities in the educational units, expanding them to other municipalities in the metropolitan area of La Paz and the Madidi landscape. Work will be also conducted in the production of educational materials to gather and recover all the experiences of scientific dissemination conducted to date in order to make more effective the contribution of WCS to environmental education in schools.