Traditional People, Protected Areas and Tourism: A 15-Year Brazilian Case Study of Cultural Change

Abstract

For decades, conservation initiatives considered the protection of nature and human progress to be mutually exclusive. As a result of this paradigm, communities living within protected areas often were displaced or treated as invaders and criminals in their ancestral territories. Consequently, much cultural heritage, including traditional knowledge, has been lost. In part to prevent cultural loss, in the year 2000, Brazil legally acknowledged within Federal Act 9,985 the rights, knowledge and way of living of traditional people as integral for the conservation of nature. Based on the case of the traditional Caiçara community living at Martin de Sá (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), this study showcases fifteen years of cultural change influenced, among others, by the implementation of protected area policy and growth in tourism. Participatory observation between 2000 and 2015 identified changes to the community’s way of thinking, lifestyle and livelihoods. Strategies are proposed to increase cultural protection.

Understanding Canoe Making as a Process of Preserving Cultural Heritage

“…Tourism contributed to changes in the local economy as people became more involved with tourism-related activities (e.g., working and managing local restaurants, camping, and transporting tourists). Other changes (e.g., incorporation of industrialized food in the local diet) were also significant, but for some Caiçara in the Reserve, they play a smaller threat to the Caiçara culture-beliefs, values, social structure, economy, and arts-when compared to former examples (Sinay et al 2019). Changes in technology are also evidenced by an increasing number of fiberglass or aluminum boats in the communities.…”

“…Changes in technology are also evidenced by an increasing number of fiberglass or aluminum boats in the communities. Sinay et al (2019) reported that all adult men of one community in the Reserve (Martim de Sá), had changed their canoes to motorized fiberglass or aluminum boats by 2015 to facilitate access to markets and tourists in Paraty.…”

Oceano, Humanidade E Regiões Tropicais: Nosso Futuro Depende Da Nossa Reconexão

“…Ocean, Humanity and Tropical Bays muitas vezes utilizado como modelo à sustentabilidade ambiental e à conservação, incluindo o turismo(BARROS & RODRIGUES, 2019;SINAY et al, 2019) e o modo de exploração de recursos naturais(TORRE-CASTRO & RÖNNBÄCK, 2004). Destes exemplos surge também o conceito de SERVIÇOS AO ECOSSISTEMA(COMBERTI et al, 2015), que considera que técnicas tradicionais (indígenas/nativas) de manejo de fauna e flora são importantes para a manutenção da biodiversidade de uma determinada região.Dam Lam et al (2019) reuniram informações de 109 artigos publicados e mostraram que a maioria dos estudos (68%) referem-se à países desenvolvidos, do qual apenas parte dos Estados Unidos e Austrália podem ser inseridos dentro do domínio tropical.…”