Natütama, the Colombian environmental education foundation, believes it’s never to early for children to learn about protecting endangered species in their native Amazonian forests and waterways. Educators visit local schools to teach children from 1st to 5th grades through drama, storytelling and art and award diplomas representing animals such as the river dolphin, manatee, giant pirarucu fish, turtles and the huge Ceiba tree.
They all visited the Natütama Interpretation Centre for a morning’s activities centred on the underwater world. Each grade has a different programme, and the overall programme is designed to cover most aspects of the natural world, from insects to the solar system and sacred places for animals.
Natüutama also ran three junior ecology groups with the emphasis on more practical aspects of caring for the environment. Two of the groups re-forested the banks of streams in their communities and the third worked on medicinal plants with elders and all three groups took part in recycling activities and prepared special presentations for Natütama Week on the theme of “Where Does our Food Come From.
Natütama also runs an important wildlife and environment monitoring programme working closely with local communities to record numbers of endangered species such as river dolphins, manatees and sloths. The Natütama Amazon team won an award in 2019 from the regional environmental authority Corpoamazonia for the best sustainable venture in the area.
Go to the Natütama page on our website to read Natütama’s full report of its work in the Amazon in 2019.
