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UV Students Presented Forest Protection Project to Ethologist Jane Goodall

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• During the event, the UV students were recognized for their contribution and work in environmental and planetary care. Additionally, they had the opportunity to learn about other experiences.

Before ethology doctor Jane Goodall, a group of UV students presented the project "The Forest in the Palms of Your Hands," which they designed and executed in 2023 in the commune of Llayllay. The students involved were Catalina Jerez and Cristóbal Alvear from the San Felipe Campus Medicine program, and Rocío Jerez from Kinesiology. They presented on August 9 at the Interactive Museum Mirador (MIM) in an event attended by the Minister of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo, along with various guests. They were accompanied by Héctor Rauld, principal of Las Palmas School in Llayllay.

During the event, the UV students were recognized for their contribution and work in environmental and planetary care. Additionally, they had the opportunity to learn about other experiences.

"When we developed the project, we contacted the Jane Goodall Institute and invited them to the closing event. This time, they reached out and invited us to present the UV project at this MIM event where Jane Goodall was present. We presented our project, just like other groups, and had the chance to talk and share experiences. It was very exciting to present in front of Jane Goodall," commented Catalina Jerez.

The project "The Forest in the Palms of Your Hands," an Impacta UV 2023 initiative, was developed with 30 schoolchildren who are part of the environmental brigade at Las Palmas School in Llayllay.

"We focused on this theme because we found it extremely relevant to promote the relationship between the environment and health, as it is where we live. If it is sick or damaged, it will severely impact us and affect our mental health," explained Catalina Jerez.

In a highly digitalized world dominated by screens, the group of students sought to return to simplicity and tradition: encouraging play and contact with nature and its cycles. The project aimed to help children learn about the characteristics of the sclerophyllous forest, its trees, plants, and animals, so they could empathize with and protect it.

To achieve this, they carried out various activities: they created fact sheets about different flora and fauna species and set up stations for children to learn about them; they planted native trees and shrubs on the school grounds; they built an insect hotel to promote biodiversity at the school; and they visited La Campana National Park, Ocoa sector, where students could apply what they learned and connect with the environment and their senses through active listening.