CAPACITAÇÃO DE MONITORES DE CAMPO DA FAZENDA INTERVALES

Abstract

For four years and three months, a group of seven workers from Intervales Farm were prepared to attend visitors and researchers. The visitors are accompanied along the trails, in groups of 20 people at the most, with the object of comprehending concepts and receiving information on the Rain Forest, viewing the awakening of reflexion and to sensibilize them to environmental matters. Regarding the researchers, the monitor acts first as a guide, sometime later becoming an assistant, as he gets acquainted with the on going projects.ln the very beggining of this work, modifications in the team composition were made, due to lack of identification between workers and new task - totally diverse from their previous experience. Each member comes trom a different kind on activity: palm heart plant manager, palm heart farmer, tractor operator, vigilant and others. The proposal of utilizing these workers as field monitors was based on the trust in their native potential (the majority had been born in the region) due to their knowledge of the forest and its processes - being necessary to intercede on the systematization of such knowledge and also as means to make possible the ecotourism project in Intervales at the momento The monitors count on empirical knowledge of great value, even though most of them have not completed elementary school and show basic difficulties in reading, writing and verbal communication. Along these years the investment in this group has been intense and constant, through trainings, technical meetings, follow-up meetings, equipment acquisition and evaluations.