O papel da educação ambiental na protecção e valorização de um recurso natural: Caso das águas termais da Montipa, Bibala-Angola

Water is very indispensable for all living beings, it supports economic activities, preserves the environment and is a factor in the balance of ecosystems. In recent years, there has been great pressure on this resource, with impacts on its scarcity and on chemical, biological contamination, etc. In Angola, specifically in the province of Namibe, there are several hot springs that can be used for different purposes, but there are no attitudes in terms of preservation and enhancement. In these conditions, in the municipality of Bibala, there is a hot spring called Montipa. In this sense, the present work aims to analyze how environmental education can influence the protection and conservation of Montipa thermal waters, in the municipality of Bibala, province of Namibe-Angola. To achieve this objective, a bibliographic review was carried out on the theme of environmental education and the socio-environmental characterization of the area under investigation. The field works allowed the physical and chemical characterization of the thermal water of Montipa, the observation of the place, the georeferencing, the collection of water samples and the photographic record, as well as questionnaires were applied to some local state entities and students of two schools in the second cycle of secondary education, namely Lyceum and Primary Teaching, at the beginning of March 2019. The results led to the suggestion of environmental education actions aimed at the preservation, protection, conservation and enhancement of the area of ​​Termas da Montipa to students and the population of the community.