Integração de conhecimento ecológico tradicional e da ecologia de populações para a conservação de quelônios (Testudines:Podocnemididae) No Rio Purus, Amazonas, Brasil

Abstract

Turtles are resources historically exploited by human populations in Amazonian ecosystems. Naturalists report that Indians large numbers of animals in ponds in the villages for address consumption during the high water period. Turtle nesting beaches, known locally as "tabuleiro de bicho-de-casco", are distributed along of the Purus River. Abufari Beach (5 ° 22'12 "S and 63 ° 01'06" W), is located in the Abufari Biological Reserve (RBA), in the municipality of Tapauá. This beach is one of the few remaining of from this abundant period for the turtles in the Purus River. RBA belongs to the indirect use-category of Conservation Units and has as its goal the research and conservation of fauna and flora. This study evaluated the consumption of turtles, traditional ecological knowledge of fishermen on turtle ecology, population structure and density of turtles in the Biological Reserve. We estimated a consumption of more than 20,000 turtles of three species of Podocnemis (P.expansa, P. unifilis and P. sextuberculata) in 2007 in the urban area, and one trade of than $ 400,000 between 2006 and 2007. Based on the popular knowledge were produce maps of distribution of fishing area, hunting and harvest of forest wood and non-timber and as areas of occurrence and movement patterns of turtles in the floodplain of the Purus River. The maps and oral history showed that most of the 16 major nesting areas of P. expansa among Abufari (RBA) and Sacado Santa Luzia (Sustainable Development Reserve Piagaçu Purus -RDSPP) have been extinct, leaving only the Abufari and Tauamirim Beach ́s. Through experimental fisheries on sites indicated on the maps we captured 3,377 turtles ( 2,390 captured with bag net in the channels Abufari and Chapéu stream) and 987 turtles with seine nets on "boiador" of the Linda Vista at 2006 and 2007 years. We estimated 2,833 females of P. expansa, 3,648 P. sextuberculata and 235 P. unifilis using the Abufari Beach between August and November 2007. Total production for the three species on the Abufari beach was estimated at 353,688 hatchling turtles. Traditional knowledge was efficient for describing movement and factors that influence the movements of migration of turtles. Consolidation of this conservation policy would be important for including all users of the resources or those are affected by its management and the conservation of turtles, but it is necessary to change the rules of the Brazilian fauna.