Sustainable Development through Environmental Education: From the Perspectives of Past and Present Group and Individual Rainforestation Adopters

Abstract

Rainforestation is a Visayas State University (VSU) technology designed as an alternative method to Philippine Government’s thrust for massive reforestation. Rainforestation’s purpose is to plant denuded lands with Philippine Native Trees together with high value crops and fruit trees. With this, ecological functions could be re-established while subsistence farmers would be provided with a stable and sustainable income. For the past twenty plus years, the first batch of individual and group adopters have toiled to succeed in their Rainforestation efforts and are, at present, already reaping the fruits of their labors. Moreover, said adopters are also inspiring new groups of adopters to also adopt Rainforestation. Yet, such things would not be possible without environmental education that has been provided by VSU, Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), and the Environment Leadership Training Initiatives (ELTI). Hence, this study aims to understand how Rainforestation has affected the adopters’ lives for the past twenty years, examine how environmental education has contributed to sustainable development, and decipher how environmental education has influenced new sets of adopters to go into Rainforestation. In order to achieve the said objectives, this study makes use of hermeneutic phenomenology and focus group discussions to arrive at the adopters’ points of views and sentiments towards the connection between environmental education, sustainable development, and Rainforestation. Furthermore, this study concludes that the adopters have already enjoyed economic benefits, sustainable source of water, and biodiversity restoration through Rainforestation adoption. This study also concludes that environmental education is one of the main factors why individuals and groups have adopted Rainforestation by informing them that growing native trees together with fruit trees is doable and possible. Lastly, this study further concludes that the spread of Rainforestation has been an offshoot of the greater reach of education and information dissemination.