The utilization of a flag-species in environmental education can be an important strategy to discuss the interrelations between the species, their habitats, and man. The red-tailed-parrot (Amazona brasiliensis), is endemic in the Atlantic Rainforest and is threatened with extinction. This work aims to analyze the environmental education experience of the project "Conservation of the red-tailed-parrot (Amazona brasiliensis)", together with formal teaching, held by the Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (SPVS), in the northern coast of Paraná State. The objective of this work was to promote a teaching method among students and teachers that contextualizes the local environment and its problems. Discussions on the values and principles of man/nature relations were also promoted, developing a more environmentally-responsible interaction. Educative modules on the red-tailed-parrot and its habitat were developed for 795 students from the municipalities of Paranaguá and Guaraqueçaba. In order to analyze the efficiency of the activities, tests, before and after the process, were developed for the students. This analysis enabled a measurement of changes with respect to an increase in knowledge, posture, and valuation of the red-tailed-parrot and its habitat.
Nature conservation; flag-species; Paranaguá; Guaraqueçaba
