Education, outreach, and training of human resources to promote weed biological control in Argentina

JIMENEZ, NADIA; FALTLHAUSER, ANA; RIGHETTI, TOMÁS; FRANCESCHINI, CELESTE; CECERE, CARLA; DADDARIO, FACUNDO; VILLAMIL, SOLEDAD; FERNÁNDEZ SOUTO, ADRIANA; HILL, MARTIN; MC KAY, FERNANDO; CABRERA WALSH, GUILLERMO; SOSA, A.J.

Puerto Iguazú

Simposio; XVI International Symposium on biological control of weeds, Session Community engagement.; 2023

FuEDEI y CERZOS (CONICET), International Organisation for Biological Control (IOBC)

Public awareness is an important component to prevent introduction or resurgence ofinvasive alien species (IAS). A positive public perception of biological control is essentialto support and demand that policy makers implement it in management programmes. Publicvisibility and research on weed biological control in Argentina have grown in the lastdecade, mainly due to a series of educational and outreach activities led by research teamsfrom FuEDEI, CONICET, and national universities. Since then, ~6,100 people haveparticipated in outreach activities and environmental education on invasive plants andbiological control through our participation in community and science fairs. We providedtraining courses to 350 school teachers and gave talks about knowledge and perception ofIAS to ~1,100 school students. We teach courses on biological control of invasive plantsand arthropods every year that have reached, to date, 1,210 undergraduate and graduatestudents from eight public universities in the country. Furthermore, 30 PhD students andyoung researchers were incorporated in the national scientific system to investigatedifferent aspects of biological control (e.g., genetics, ecology, social science). A freegamified application called “Especies” was developed for teachers and students fromsecondary schools in Argentina as a friendly learning tool to study the importance of IASand their management through a United Nations Development Program. We also initiatedthe implementation of the biological control programme of water hyacinth (Pontederiacrassipes) in a small lake in San Vicente (Buenos Aires province). Soon after, it became aneducational project of the city´s agrarian secondary school where students and teachersmass-reared and released host-specific insects to control the water hyacinth invasion. Overtime, water hyacinth biological control gained visibility and support among the community,which gave us the opportunity to teach and award a technical diploma in aquatic weedmanagement to 30 people. We are also involved in training and counseling for severalnational and municipal level government agencies (e.g., FuEDEI provided training coursesin the Agriculture Ministry), and international initiatives. All these initiatives couldcontribute to increasing public awareness about the importance of IAS, raising the profileof weed biological control, and promoting new research opportunities for further growth inArgentina.