The Metropolitan Natural Park, as a protected area committed to the conservation and protection of natural resources and the promotion of environmental education, as stated in article 2 of Act No.8 of July 5th, 1985, “Promote the establishment of facilities for directed recreation, interaction with nature, environmental education, ecological research and other related scientific-cultural activities”, has been developing activities and subprograms for 32 years. The PNM promotes and encourages informal environmental education, to raise awareness among the student body and contribute to their learning, thus following Act No. 38 of 2014, “Which establishes the mandatory teaching of environmental education and comprehensive disaster risk management”.
“My School is near the Forest”
The Metropolitan Natural Park is a pioneering protected area in the field of non-formal environmental education in the Republic of Panama. This endeavor was initiated 33 years ago with the program "My School is in the Panama Canal Watershed," in the early 1990s. Subsequently, in 2005, restructuring took place to enhance its efficiency and reinforce the academic topics provided by the Ministry of Education. It is now known as "My School is Near the Forest."
“PNM Young Naturalists Club”
Dedicated to advancing education through a holistic approach as a means to foster environmental values within the educational community, the Metropolitan Natural Park has created the “Young Naturalists” program.
This initiative aims to strengthen and broaden students’ understanding of environmental matters while nurturing their creativity in exploring potential solutions to the impacts of human activities occurring within their educational environment. It also endeavors to inspire them to act as catalysts, leveraging their roles as young community leaders to champion genuine sustainable development.
Social Order Workshop
The Social Order Workshop is a component of the park’s social responsibility efforts. It is completely free of charge and aims to foster healthy social interactions while raising participants’ awareness about conserving and understanding their natural environment, as well as the value contributed by a protected area. This activity is conducted in collaboration with social and health-focused foundations or NGOs.
Children’s Environmental Forum
In 2008, the initiative to organize a biannual children’s forum was born. This forum is designed for children, where they take on the responsibility of presenting a previously selected environmental theme to an audience consisting of students from other primary schools.