Elos da Diversidade, A Public Policy on Environmental Education for Participatory Environmental Management and Resolution of Socio-environmental Conflicts on Nature Conservation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The article presents the experience of the Bonds of Diversity Project (projeto Elos da Diversidade), of the Superintendency of Environmental Education of the Secretary of the Environment of the State of Rio de Janeiro, an environmental education project focused on participatory environmental management, conservation of nature and cultural practices to it associated. The project was developed in a context of conflict: the dispute over access and use of territories of identity, religious intolerance and racism involving public religious use of nature protected by law. Implemented in partnership with the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), religious institutions and the Tijuca National Park, the Bonds of Diversity Project was executed between September 2011 and December 2014, developing distinct actions aimed to create the first Sacred Space legally established in Brazil. The goal was to raise public awareness about the role of sacred natural sites, cultural landscapes and intangible heritage in the management ecosystems and the sustainable use of biodiversity, harmonizing the needs of nature protection with the right to religious freedom guaranteed by the Federal Constitution of Brazil, with human rights as a guideline of the strategies built and critical environmental education as its leading force.