Percepção sobre espécies exóticas e nativas na arborização de escolas em Mossoró-RN

The relevance of green areas and environmental education practices are not a constant topic in elementary schools, leading children and adolescents to often give little importance to the subject. In this context, it is important to link the planning of urban afforestation to environmental education, considering that the base of society is schools. Thus, the present study aimed to conduct qualitative and quantitative research on the use of exotic and native species in elementary schools in Mossoró-RN. To reach the objective, the proposed environmental education action was lectures on the theme. Structured interviews were also carried out in two moments (before and after environmental education actions). The sample contained 402 interviews with students distributed in 12 elementary schools in the city of Mossoró-RN (4 municipal, 4 state and 4 private). The characterization of the afforestation of schools was also carried out by surveying the tree species categorized as exotic and native and regarding the stage of development (seedling or adult), in addition to recording the available quantity of each one. Twenty species were identified, the exotic ones Azadirachta indica, Ficus benjamina and Mangifera indica, those registered in greater number. Among the native species found, Handroanthus impetiginosus and Tabebuia aurea stood out. The State School Eliseu Viana stood out as the most wooded. Regarding the students' perception of the use of exotic and native species, there was a clear difference between the answers before and after the lectures, indicating the assimilation of the knowledge exposed. It is concluded with the results that there is a preference for the use of exotic species in schools, as well as a certain lack of knowledge about the benefits of using native species by students