Gestão participativa em unidades de conservação e representatividade da atividade turística: o caso da área de proteção ambiental dos Recifes de Corais (RN)

Abstract

Protected Areas are areas with boundaries defined whose function is biodiversity conservation. Participatory management in these areas is ensured by the SNUC Law (9.985/00) and Decree 4.340/02 which consolidated the right of participation of the people in the creation, deployment and management of protected areas. A form of this right being exercised is through participation in the management councils of the conservation unit. This study examines the mechanisms and processes of participatory management, with a focus on performance of the management board, the Environmental Protection Coral Reef Area (Aparc), which is a protected area that has tourism as one of the main activities on site, through the characterization of the principles of participatory management applied in the implementation and management of Aparc, as well as the analysis of the participation of representatives of the management council and its action on the proposals for tourism. For this, we present a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. For this analysis, several documents Aparc and its management council were reviewed since its formalization in 2001, until the last board meeting held in 2013, documents comprising these 55 records, attendance lists, decrees and laws. It was also used as collection methods, direct observation during council meetings and semi-structured interviews with directors of character and former advisers. The results showed that the processes and mechanisms of participative management in Aparc were partially met, can be considered a practice in construction, requiring a greater commitment from entities that compose the management council. As regards tourism, it had been discussed in council since its beginning, it’s the subject of the agenda of all meetings activity, with the industry representatives had higher frequency, however, requiring greater understanding among everyone involved in the process so that tourism developed in Aparc is conscious, sustainable, participatory democratic and economically.