Promoting coexistence with jaguars and pumas in the Caatinga: two approaches to reach school children

ABSTRACT

Coexistence education is essential in resolving human-wildlife conflicts. Two educational interventions were assessed among school children to understand the effectiveness of distinct approaches used in education campaigns. One had a strong audio-visual component, while the second was based on storytelling. Interventions focused on jaguars and pumas because these species are declining in the Caatinga biome, mainly due to conflicts with humans. Children’s socioeconomic backgrounds were assessed. Both interventions significantly enhanced prominence, knowledge and positive perceptions of jaguars and pumas. The audio-visual intervention showed a higher overall positive effect on prominence and perceptions. Storytelling proved a stronger tool for increasing knowledge. Socioeconomic background also proved an important driver in all domains. Nature proximity and parents’ education level showed significant influence on children’s knowledge, prominence, and perceptions. The outcomes of this study show the importance of using complementary methods and adapting similar initiatives to local social contexts to achieve success.

KEYWORDS:

• Big cats
• conservation
• environmental education
• interventions
• semi-arid regions

Acknowledgments

We thank Programa Amigos da Onça and the Institute for the Conservation of Neotropical Carnivores, for providing everything needed to develop this study. We thank Mariane Barbosa, Naíne Nunes, Mércia Milena, Wanderly Ferreira and Paulo Marinho for all their help in applying questionnaires and interventions. We thank all respondents, teachers, and school staff for working with us and giving permission to conduct this research. We thank Afonso Antunes for his help in image editing. We thank Nuno Negrões for his comments and suggestions on an early version of this study. We thank James Greene for helping with the English language.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.