Abstract
Environmental issues in the Cerro Tecana community in Santa Ana, El Salvador, have for many years contributed to the current vulnerability of the hill, the loss of natural resources, and impacts on residents’ health. Research in the country on environmental issues has focused on identifying environmental problems, their causes, and finding solutions, with a primary emphasis on situations rather than people. This has limited the understanding of human motives and behaviors in relation to the environment. In the specific case of the Cerro Tecana community, no published academic research was found, only blog articles and news on websites.
Since 2015, the organization Un Pulmón Más has begun working with the Cerro Tecana community, focusing on environmental education, raising awareness, reforestation of the hill, and the creation of development opportunities for the residents. This qualitative research focuses on identifying whether the residents of Cerro Tecana have internalized environmental behaviors in their daily lives.
For its analysis, the thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and predominant themes in the conversations. The main findings are: lack of information and basic services. The residents that showed the highest level of awareness were the seniors in comparison to the younger ones; emerging organizational efforts in the areas of tourism and entrepreneurship were also identified.
Although the community demonstrated environmental knowledge and awareness, few sustainable behaviors have been adopted in their daily lives. It is crucial to support the community in accessing basic services that will allow them to act properly and develop capacities raising awareness among the population and building young leaders within the community.
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