The Experimental Stations of the Autonomous Universities in Venezuela and their contribution to human rights
University conservation areas
Venezuela, at the top of global megabiodiversity, was a regional pioneer with the first ministry of the environment and the early planning of protected areas. Today, however, it reports the reduction, loss, and destruction of training and research spaces in the environmental field — at the same time as an enormous extractivist expansion is taking place over heritage ecosystems and the inadequate management of strategic protected areas. The dismantling and destruction of these spaces include biological stations, experimental farms, and ecological and forest reserves, which are subjected to budget shortages, thefts, and invasions. Likewise, too many museums, biological collections, and laboratories are collapsing due to a lack of personnel and resources, or quite literally, due to their physical destruction.
University Experimental Stations (Estaciones Experimentales Universitarias, EEU)
These are academic and conservation units that are part of the administrative structure of the universities. Their purpose is to meet institutional needs in support of teaching, research, and outreach in the area of Environmental Sciences, jointly with other disciplines — a place where cutting-edge knowledge and expertise converge, led by academics who are committed to the conservation of the environment, biodiversity, and natural ecosystems, developing socio-environmental impact projects for the benefit of communities.
Strengthening the social fabric in the spaces where the experimental stations are located — based on the assessment of systemic solutions that promote the strengthening of Human Rights from a socio-environmental and conservation perspective of these spaces — is of great relevance to ensure compliance with the three pillars of Venezuelan university education: teaching, research, and outreach.