Since 2001, IPÊ has been developing environmental education activities for the population of the town of Novo Airão and the riverside communities living around the Ecological Station of Anavilhanas.
This project adopts a participatory approach of education, in which people play an active role throughout the educational process. IPÊ has developed techniques of sensitization and dialogical learning, geared to intensify people's involvement in conservation programs, appreciation of local culture, and creativity to design sustainable projects. From this perspective, the project integrates three dimensions: biodiversity, human populations and traditional cultures (including a search for the original local legends).
IPÊ carries out a manatee conservation project that serves as symbol to the region's regional threatened fauna and flora species, aiming at raising people's awareness to the importance of these animals and the plants of which they depend. The overall idea is to involve people as agents in processes of environmental protection and conservation. IPÊ acts based on the concept that, when nature is being protected, human beings reap benefits and improve the quality of their own lives.
Since 2002, IPÊ has helped organize and has been an active participant in the Manatee EcoFestival (a regional annual celebration) with an environmental education that aims to sensitizing people to the conservation of this species. Activities include lectures, seminars, and art competitions and exhibits, among those carried out during the months preceding the celebration.
Environmental education is an integral part of the biodiversity conservation and sustainable use program, promoting an exchange of information that encourages the careful use of natural resources. It also bears the necessary conditions for the dialogue between popular and scientific knowledge to take place, favoring the development of sustainable research and projects to improve human quality of life. 
