“Young Sentinels of the Coastal Pine Forest”: an education project to safeguard biodiversity and prevent forest fires

Abstract

The vegetation of the coastal areas is closely linked to the back-dune habitat, generally occupied by coniferous forests of great naturalistic and landscape interest, where the floristic composition and vegetation are subject to deep transformations immediately after fire occurrence. School represents the ideal community for environmental and sustainability education projects aimed to raise the knowledge and awareness of the common cultural and natural heritage. This paper describes the work carried out by a third-year class of the Lower Secondary School of the I.C. “Q.O. Flacco” of Marconia (Matera, Italy) within the frame of the project “Young sentinels of the coastal pine forest”. The project aims to describe and safeguard the vegetation of the dune and back-dune habitat in the SIC area located in Marina di Pisticci, in order to prevent the occurrence of wildfires that can threaten the coastal pine forest. The results of this work can contribute to increase the knowledge of the local vegetation and to rise the awareness of new generations for the relevant role they should play in safeguarding the environment.

Keywords

• environmental education
• biodiversity
• school scouting activities
• coastal pine forest
• fire prevention