Lina Galvani Institute

Project Fioravante Galvani Park

2015 was a busy year in the Fioravante Galvani Park. The park featured in the media, held several special activities on environmental education and established itself as a reference center in the preservation of the Brazilian Cerrado, not only in Western Bahia, but also among the leading institutes studying this biome in Brazil.

  • Year of the Wolf

    To support the "I am friends with the wolf" (Sou Amigo do Lobo) project – a partnership of the Brazilian Association of Aquariums and Zoos (SZB) with the Program for the Conservation of the Maned Wolf – Wolves of the Canastra, the FGP held a drawing contest that featured about 200 children from 8 municipal schools from Luís Eduardo Magalhães. In addition to raising awareness about the preservation of the maned wolf, the activity was intended to celebrate the "Year of the Wolf" and Fioravante Galvani Park's 9th anniversary.

    The best drawings were exhibited and the winners were chosen by Galvani employees from Luís Eduardo Magalhães.

    Teaching the children to respect the Cerrado is critical. We must show them that the park is one of the few remaining areas of Cerrado in the region, putting the local wildlife in the spotlight. I think the job done by the FGP is of paramount importance and its team is to be congratulated.

    Rogério Cunha de Paula, project coordinator of the "I am friends with the wolf" project

    KEY FINDINGS
    This was an interesting activity to help us take the debate on the "conservation of the maned wolf" to the schools. The experience opened doors for the Center for Environmental Education to work together with other conservation projects, bringing community and scientists together and enriching the work of the Park.

  • Control and welfare of the animals – New specimens

    In February, an anteater cub was born in the park. The event is considered a great achievement, not only because the species is on the list of endangered animals, but also because reproduction success rates in captivity are relatively low and depend on a lot of care.

    And in October, another marsh deer was born there: Jupiter, the son of Radija, who has been in the Park since 2007, and Rick, who arrived in 2013. Not only is it an endangered species, it has a low reproduction rate in captivity, which makes this birth even more meaningful.

  • The Fioravante Galvani Park in the media

    The park featured in the Globo Rural TV show, with the story of Charles and Lola, the couple of maned wolves that gave birth to the cub Vítor. Considered an outstanding success in the scientific literature, the project is a major reference in captive breeding.
    Check out the report.

    The Park also featured on Bahia state TV news. The report presented the activities of the park and stressed its importance for the preservation of the fauna and flora of the Cerrado. The big "stars" of the report were the anteaters.
    Want to see the video? Click here.

    Furthermore, the FGP was the setting for a new Discovery Channel show. Not coincidentally, the maned wolves were the stars of the shoot. The series, expected to premiere in 2016, tells the story of men's relationship with dogs, and the maned wolf, the largest canid of South America, could not be left out.

  • Alô Cerrado Radio Show

    The Alô Cerrado project was made possible through a penalty conversion agreement with the Municipal Environment Council, signed in August. In total, there were five editions of the program, of which the latter approached the hunting of animals and its impact on the environment.

    For the program to continue to promote environmental education in the region in 2016, new partnerships are necessary.

    With the program, we have the opportunity to encourage the community to discuss pressing environmental matters.

    Márcia Xavier, Park manager

    KEY FINDINGS
    Radio is an interesting means of communication; through the project we can carry our message to various audiences and improve the self-esteem of local children.

  • Advocacy and participation in the public sector

    The Lina Galvani and the Fioravante Galvani were elected to remain in one of the five seats allocated to the social sector in the Municipal Environmental Council of Luís Eduardo Magalhães. Thus, they continue to engage in issues, projects and environmental initiatives of the municipality and the surrounding region.

    Recently, the management of the Park also joined the Interagency Commission on Environmental Education (Comissão Interinstitucional de Educação Ambiental – CIEA), which brings together representatives from environmental and education bodies of both civil society and government.

    KEY FINDINGS
    The connection with the public sector allows us to be aware of the city's problems and thus contribute more decisively to the solutions.

  • Guided tours

    In 2015, we maintained our guided tours, with 1,098 students from local schools and 811 tours open to the community. This project gave the inhabitants of Luís Eduardo Magalhães the opportunity to learn about the local fauna and flora; discover the beauty of the Cerrado and its importance to the ecosystem; break the prejudice that this biome is less attractive or worthless; enhance the common habitat; strengthen our sense of community and create a local identity in a region formed by people from different parts of the country.

    Thanks to the experience we had at the park, we can already help many people in the region where we live, spreading environmental information, talking about healthcare and waste disposal, for example.

    Marisa dos Santos, Park visitor

  • Seedling Nursery

    In 2014, 2,264 seedlings of native Cerrado species were produced in the nursery and used for reforestation and recovery purposes in degraded areas.