Environmental education in medicinal and sacred plants: An experience of metropolitan rurality

Abstract

This article systematizes a process of philosophical and scientific reflection of environmental education in a context of urban expansion in an area of atlantic forest biome, which is overcome with cultures and ways of life that establish direct relations with nature, here understood as ruralities. To this end, we start from an experience of environmental education at school in the Cajazeiras neighborhood of Salvador-BA and conceptually guide reflections from the perspective of environmental ethics to dialogue with people and non-governmental organizations linked to the religious universe and policies for the conservation of the local ecosystem. Some plants recognized as sacred are being decimated, either by the disorderly action of the removal of leaves and roots, by deforestation of areas of Atlantic Forest for new real estate developments, or even reduction of green areas for opening roads, in order to contribute to urban mobility. It discusses the need for use and cultivation of plants that still survive on the site, so that environmental conservation is effective in the urban area studied