Turismo e pobreza em áreas de conservação em Moçambique: um estudo sobre a participação cidadã no Parque Nacional do Limpopo

Abstract

Tourism in protected areas is made up of three main aspects: rationality about the integration of local communities, neoliberal environmental conservation and the spatialization of tourism use, all of which bring together tensions within the poverty-stricken population. In this context, protected areas are a focus for understanding tourism because they encompass power relations where everyday actions and external processes are concentrated, such as the actions of various agents in restructuring the territory. The thesis aims to understand the dynamics of tourism and narratives of poverty, considering the ideology of development linked to the context of protected areas in Mozambique, especially in Limpopo National Park, seeking to analyze tourism and the narratives associated with poverty; the context of the creation of conservation areas and their connection with the actions of various agents; It also problematizes the neoliberal ideology and its basis in the restructuring of conservation areas, as well as the political agenda of tourism, and investigates the process of citizen participation and social transformations in indigenous communities, with a view to the internal organization of their territories. From a methodological point of view, based on a qualitative approach, the aim is to carry out bibliographical research on the subject under study and documentary research, analyzing Mozambican policy documents, such as national plans and management plans linked to tourism, poverty and conservation. Empirical research was carried out with the help of in-depth interviews, in order to gather the feelings and reasoning of the people involved in the dynamics of the Limpopo National Park. In addition to collecting information from locals and community leaders to obtain testimonies about the lives of the people involved, interviews were conducted with government tourism and conservation bodies, as well as with the main partner NonGovernmental Organization in order to identify their thoughts and concrete actions. Tourism plays a fundamental role in the actions and practices of everyday dialogic structuring, revealing itself as fundamental in the formation of narratives. This complex phenomenon is influenced by various factors, including the mechanisms and purposes of international politics in tourism relations. Ideologies linked to the actions of the state also play a significant role, leaving their mark on the construction of tourism and the context of political representations in the face of diverse social realities. As these are communities of small groups, articulation is flexible, but the decision-making process is somewhat questionable, given that the fragility of citizen participation, access to information and crucial decision-making for their destinations depend on historically constructed power relations, from the family to the constitutional context.