Abstract
Management councils of protected areas in Brazil represents a way for social participation in the management of these areas. However, this participation does not have to be restricted only to an information procedure of the actions developed in the area but effectively influence the management with proposals of actions. In this way, the evaluation of this process constitutes an important stage to improve the governance in protected areas. The objective of this work was to understand the participative management process in the Petrópolis Environmental Protection Area (APA Petrópolis) regarding the quantitative evaluation of the actions proposed and effectively incorporated to its management in the last 10 years (1998-2007). The results showed that a significative gap can exist between the council existence and its influence on the management of the protected area.
Key words:
social participation; governance; protected area.