Participatory action research for primate conservation: A critical analysis of a nonformal education program in Southern Mexico

Conservation education may benefit from incorporating participatory action research principlesThe urgency of the biodiversity crisis may necessitate new approaches to conservation education that more actively engage community participation. This study asks: how can “local communities' knowledge, perceptions, and experiences have a leading role in conservation research and decision‐making processes?” Three research frameworks for conservation education that may meet these aims are explored, including participatory action research (PAR), arts‐based education, and knowledge coproduction. Additionally, this study examines a PAR project that sought to increase children's interest in the conservation of black howler monkeys, a threatened species.

The study explores “Murales participativos para la conservación del saraguato negro” (mural paintings for black howler monkey conservation) as a case study of PAR. The mural project was the final phase of a broader study exploring primate conservation education in 12 primary schools in Southeastern Mexico. This phase consisted of an arts‐based education approach that centered on the creation of public murals. At each of the 12 participating schools, a wildlife conservation mural was designed and painted by children (6‐12 years) and adult helpers. A total of about 1,200 children participated in the project. Children in 5th and 6th grade generated ideas for the murals based on ecosystems in their community. Painting the murals involved the entire school: 1st–6th grade students, teachers, school staff, parents, and community members. The project aimed to provide a “flexible environment that allowed creativity and social interaction” and which encouraged intergenerational dialogues so that “knowledge and ideas went from school to home and vice versa.”

Findings highlight a set of PAR principles that can strengthen communities’ involvement in conservation education research. The findings are focused on four principles: codesign, arts‐based and place‐based education, critical thinking, and community‐centered education/knowledge dialogues. Codesign is based on the understanding that all participants have valuable knowledge, experiences, and points of view that should be contributed through opportunities for decision‐making throughout the study. Arts‐based education involves using artistic processes to foster learning in non-artistic fields, while place‐based education is a form of experiential learning focused on local cultural and natural environments. The mural project used both approaches to engage children and the community in thinking about local biodiversity which resulted in strengthened relationships with the land. Critical thinking in PAR “enables people to gain a more complex understanding of the information and promotes both good decision‐making and problem‐solving in real‐world applications.” The mural project used the real problem of the threatened howler monkeys to stimulate critical thinking skills through an exploration of “complex and controversial topics.” The notion of community‐centered education and knowledge dialogues are based Paulo Freire's and other Latin‐American theorists’ principles. Through this lens, “the main goal of conservation education projects should be to catalyze people's knowledge, abilities, and strengths, for the common good.” This approach aims to balance power between participants and researchers and facilitate critical thought that inspires practical action to transform reality.

While the mural project faced some challenges (often due to time or funding constraints) in fully achieving all four of these principles, the study provides insights into how PAR offers a culturally relevant approach to conservation education research. Findings suggest that education programs focused on primate conservation should be “context‐dependent, people centered, aware of the values and thoughts that stem from a colonial perspective and aligned with people‐centered approaches to research.” The authors encourage the use of the PAR approaches to achieve long-term conservation goals.