Gestão ambiental participativa em espaço protegido: o caso do Paraná do Aranapú na reserva de desenvolvimento sustentável Mamirauá

Abstract

Reconciling protection of the environment with human presence and the need for economic, social and cultural development is the objective of some types of Conservation Units. In line with this, our dissertation entitled Participative Environmental Management in Protected Space: The Case of the Aranapú Paraná in the Mamirauá /AMAZON intends to be a contribution to discussions about participative administration in legally protected areas. We start from a geographical treatment of the categories of space and territory in order to understand one of the intrinsic elements of the multiple themes involved in the territorial and environmental organization that is the creation and administration of protected spaces. In another perspective Participative Environmental Administration is discussed and Environmental Education is our methodological/theoretical proposal, that is to say, the mediation instrument of conflicts in the process of participative environmental administration in the Aranapú sector of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, the place where the empirical foundation for this dissertation took place. Analyzing the process of participative environmental administration within the perspective of Environmental Education as a process in the establishment of new relationships in the local society, both internally and with nature, was our principal objective. Through its qualitative focus the research sought to describe the participative process, identifying the possibilities and limits for continuity in the view of the community. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were used with 65% of the heads of households of the eight communities. Given the dynamics of the waters in the region, we chose to do the interviews in two moments: the periods of high and low waters, in order to understand the relationship of the river peoples with the changing environment. The Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, administrative partner of the Mamirauá Reserve, promotes in the communities the manipulation of natural resources, a way to compensate them for the restrictions established by the overall Manipulation Plan, which seeks to conserve biodiversity and improve the quality of life of the local population. To achieve this, the community members must be organized and committed to the carrying out of the plan s activities. Nonetheless one finds that the established rules are not always followed by all the community members; there are those who voluntarily dedicate part of their time to policing the preservation of the resources and there are others who allow third parties to invade the lakes, destined for the exclusive use of the communities or even in prohibited areas. The research highlights the many relations developed in a participatory process and is seeking to understand the meanings expressed by the actors, as well as awareness raising through.