Populações tradicionais e suas relações com a concepção de gestão de unidade de conservação de uso sustentável: o caso da resex verde para sempre

Abstract

This research analyzes the interaction between centralized government management in an area newly transformed into a Sustainable Use Conservation Unit (UC-US) and the local rules on access to fishery resources, historically developed and practiced independently by its traditional occupant populations. The study was conducted in the Extractive Reserve Verde para Sempre, created by the federal government in 2004, in the municipality of Porto de Moz, in Pará State. The study was based on bibliographic reviews and in field survey and analysis of primary data and information obtained in communities located in a floodplain area and the transition zone between lowland and dry land areas of the UC-US, through structured and semi-structured interviews with residents and fish dealers. The results demonstrate that communities were able to draft local norms and regulations for use of natural resources; these local standards are important governance systems to maintain the balance of fish exploitation, but are fragile and cannot withstand the pressure generated by the market as well as the inclusion of new technologies in the exploitation process and therefore require a co- management process; also reveal that the non-recognition of local standards by the State, in times of conflict, consolidated the dismantling process of the local governance system and paved the way for a fishery system which can result in the depletion of commercially valuable stocks in short time. It is concluded that local regulations are not incorporated into the management processes of protected area for two fundamental questions: (1) The non- recognition by the authority established by the government of the legitimacy of local authority collectively built and the conflict between traditional knowledge and technical and scientific knowledge; and (2) the decontextualized interpretation and application of laws and normative acts outdated by the Resex’s governmental managers. These issues should be prioritized in the development of co-management practices in sustainable use protected areas.