Árvores e arborização urbana na cidade de Piracicaba/SP: um olhar sobre a questão à luz da educação ambiental

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the street arborization in Piracicaba city, São Paulo State, taking into account the public management, legislation and educative actions and looking for understanding the technical opinion of professionals involved in this issue. It was also used participatory research to understand the needs of a population segment, and the reasons that this segment sees the element “tree” with preconception or in a negative way, showing desire to request successive trees cut made nowadays. It was also tried to identify factors that could stimulate change in the population mind and could be used in an educative advertising to build a better relationship between people and street arborization. This research concluded that street arborization is compromised by a lack of favorable and defined public policy for street trees planting in the city. The street arborization, which has not a planed policy, has been negatively influenced by the government changes. Due to this fact, big trees have been systematically cut from the streets, and being substituted by other small and medium species size, with less environmental effect, to attend the rules imposed by CPFL and population preconception. It was questioned the technical criterions adopted by Piracicaba Hall to authorize to cutting trees and the lack of a philosophic capacity and education among the workers responsible by the administration and management of street arborization. This education could make them to develop a greater feeling of affectivity and compromise with trees and arborization, which would be an example for the population. The research carried out with two different citizenships groups of Piracicaba showed that problems related with sidewalk broken by tree roots growth, “dirty” coming from the trees, such as leaves and flowers, interference in the city power net and culvert clogged have been the most problems noted by the population segment researched. However, discussion and reflections about the issue made by the population groups showed a predisposition to bring solutions that could not caus e a sacrifice for the street arborization. Furthermore, items such as “beautiful” and “shade” were noted as the most important advantageous of street arborization. The participatory research, as a methodological resources used as an approach of the subject beside the studied groups, stimulated a rise in their environmental perceptions, bringing a feeling of appropriation and co-responsibility by their collective space, and a potential for thinking and acting about their reality. According to these results, it is recommended a formulation and an implementation of a public policy to increment and improve the quality of street arborization in the city, based on the evidence that there is not an “ideal tree” for street arborization. Through the broad education projects, there is a need of stimulating the development of feelings that take into account more respect and tolerance between trees and population.