COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN PROTECTED AREAS WITH SUSTAINABLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN BRAZIL: TO THINK MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Abstract:

Community-based tourism has been considered a fundamental strategy to understand and support conservation, value the attributes of nature and culture and the very process of management of protected areas. The first initiatives emerged in the mid-1990s in the North, Northeast and South regions of Brazil, characterized by a strong component of participation and protagonism of the local community in the process of planning and management of activities. These initiatives are presented, above all, in defense of their traditionally occupied territories, which, for the most part, are linked to the protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources. The article seeks, thus, to analyze the perceptions of local actors and institutional interlocutors on community-based tourism in federal protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources, considering four experiences: Guapi-Mirim Environmental Protection Area (Rio de Janeiro) Environmental Protection Area of Cairuçu (Rio de Janeiro), Prainha do Canto Verde Extractive Reserve (Ceará) and Tapajós-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve (Pará). The adopted qualitative research methodology was based mainly on bibliographical and documental survey, on virtual fieldwork and on data analysis and treatment. The main results achieved revealed numerous opportunities for community-based tourism in protected areas with a sustainable use of natural resources, socio-political organization, mutual recognition and appreciation of nature-culture, in addition to dialogue between communities, ICMBio, partners and civil society.

Key-words:
Community-based tourism; Protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources; Traditional peoples and communities