Turismo e lazer em unidade de conservação: a experiência de São João do Tupé Redes do Tupé/AM

Abstract

Socio-cultural and environmental aspects in tourism activity at the municipality of São João do Tupé REDES do Tupé , was the fundamental focus of this research. There are six communities at the Sustainable Developmental Reserve of Tupé (Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Tupe) , but São João do Tupé was chosen because it has managed tourism activity and it represents a leisure place for the urban population of Manaus. Such landscape is endowed with lakes, falls, beach, tracks and exuberant vegetation. In order to stimulate the community to put into effect a sustainable tourism, residents were trained to deal with tourists as tourism guide, feeding, craftsmanship, etc. The training was done by academic field as well as by government support. However, few changes have occurred. In the wake of this factor this study planned to understand that realism starting from the knowledge dwellers should have on tourism and leisure and all tools built on this subject. It was utilized a psychosocial approach of the environment focusing mainly in the nature perceptions of the people who has worked or still are working in these activities. We used in this project a multi-method (Gunther, Pinheiro e Elali, 2011) as a research scheme with participant observations techniques and semi-structural interviews engaging nine residents that have been worked or still are working in the tourism-leisure activity. The results showed deficiency in the structure due to the lack of governmental support and no interest of the community, besides the magnificence of the place in offering all the attractions to enjoy the tourism of the nature. Even though the effort to qualify the residents it was also noted that the community did not embrace this activity, but hardly one family has dedicated to some sporadic actions. Tourism is sometimes exercised by few Tourism Agencies from Manaus without any connection with the residents other than the collaboration of Indian groups that offer their rituals and sell their cultural craftsmanship. The people in the group that was involved with tourism activities shows us they see tourism as a source of extra income and an opportunity to contact foreign people who bring them novelties and wonder with the local nature. In their ideas tourism represents an activity with people from other places far from Manaus or far from the region and, leisure as a specific trend to visitors in their weekend and enjoying beach. In this sense tourism with outsiders is welcome and seemed as an excellent deal for the community and for the conservation of the nature, but with indoors is something worst for everybody: while strangers are educated, natives are degraders of the environment and cause serious social problems to the dwellers of the community.