The paper presents the socioeconomic dimension in Vila Mota, municipality of Maracanã, state of Pará, and its repercussion in the local development process, understood as the fulfillment of basic human needs. Vila Mota is a community of traditional fishing located in the Reserva Extrativista Marinha de Maracanã (marine extractive reserve). The conditions of life in this community were observed and analyzed according to some indicators that make up the Human Development Index (HDI) and its variants. Limiting and enhancer factors for local development were also identified. The survey was carried out in 2007 and took into account 72 families representing 48% of the total available. The results indicated that housekeeping was impaired in families that have developed small-scale fishing as the only productive activity, given that the monetary income for 62.5% of these families was less than a minimum wage. The conditions of education and natural resources were enhancer factors to the development, although the most part of inhabitants did not know the purposes of the marine reserve. The absence of a cooperative culture, the lack of a structure for production, transportation and marketing, and the disability of health services were evidences of a low capacity for socio-political organization, with direct impact on local development.
Traditional communities; Local development; Amazon; Human Development Index
