Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-02T12:43:13.225Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Community perceptions of four protected areas in the Northern portion of the Cerrado hotspot, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

MARIANA NAPOLITANO E FERREIRA  and
NATÁLIA COSTA FREIRE
MARIANA NAPOLITANO E FERREIRA*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, travessa 14, 321 Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil
NATÁLIA COSTA FREIRE
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Rua 07, Quadra 15 s/n, Jardim dos Ipês, Porto Nacional, TO 77500–000, Brazil
*
*Correspondence: Ms Mariana Napolitano E Ferreira e-mail: marinf@ib.usp.br
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Establishing effective networks of protected areas (PAs) is one of the major goals of conservation strategies worldwide. However, the success of PAs in promoting biodiversity conservation depends on their integration to local and regional contexts, reducing and mitigating human impacts originating from buffer zones. Community perceptions affect interactions between residents and PAs, and thereby conservation effectiveness. Research at Tocantins state (northern Brazilian Cerrado), aimed to analyse local community perceptions of four PAs, discussing how different factors may influence these. Perceptions were assessed through standardized interviews applied to PA employees and 275 local inhabitants. There was modest community participation in PA establishment and management. Residents were aware of the PAs’ existence, but were unfamiliar with their goals. Length of residency and occupation of inhabitants influenced their PA perceptions, shaping different people-park relations in each of the four studied PAs. Involvement of local residents in PA planning and management represents a central strategy to strengthen local support for PAs over the long term. In those areas that still have settlements inside their boundaries, community relocation should follow a careful participatory process to avoid significant changes in local perceptions and attitudes towards these PAs, crucial for conserving Brazilian biodiversity.

Keywords

Cerradocommunity perceptionshotspotpeople-park interactionsprotected areas
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 129 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, W.M., Aveling, R., Brockington, D., Dickson, B., Elliott, J., Hutton, J., Roe, D., Vira, B. & Wolmer, W. (2004) Biodiversity conservation and the eradication of poverty. Science 306 (5699): 1146–1149.Google Scholar
Allendorf, T., Swe, K.K., Htut, T.O.Y., Aung, M., Allendorf, K., Hayek, L., Leimgruber, P. & Wemmer, C. (2006) Community attitudes toward three PAs in Upper Myanmar (Burma). Environmental Conservation 33 (4): 344–352.Google Scholar
Allendorf, T. (2007) Residents’ attitudes toward three PAs in southwestern Nepal. Biodiversity and Conservation 16: 2087–2102.Google Scholar
Anthony, B. (2007) The dual nature of parks: attitudes of neighbouring communities towards Kruger National Park, South Africa. Environmental Conservation 34 (3): 236–245.Google Scholar
Balmford, A., Bruner, A., Cooper, P., Costanza, R., Farber, S., Green, R.E., Jenkins, M., Jefferiss, P., Jessamy, V., Madden, J., Munro, K., Myers, N., Naeem, S., Paavola, J., Rayment, M., Rosendo, S., Roughgarden, J., Trumper, K. & Turner, R.K. (2002) Economic reasons for conserving wild nature. Science 297: 950–953.Google Scholar
Bauer, H. (2003) Local perceptions of Waza National Park, northern Cameroon. Environmental Conservation 30 (2): 175–181.Google Scholar
Brandon, K.E. & Wells, M. (1992) Planning for people and parks: design dilemmas. World Development 20: 557–570.Google Scholar
Cernea, M.M. & Schmidt-Soltau, K. (2006) Poverty risks and national parks: policy issues in conservation and resettlement. World Development 34 (10): 1808–1830.Google Scholar
Dias-Brito, D., Rohn, R., Castro, J.C., Dias, R.R. & Rössler, R. (2007) The Northern Tocantins petrified forest, state of Tocantins. The most luxuriant and important Permian tropical-subtropical floristic record in the Southern Hemisphere. In: Geological and Palaeontological Sites of Brazil, ed. Winge, M., Schobbenhaus, C., Berbert-Born, M., Queiroz, E.T., Campos, D.A., Souza, C.R.G. & Fernandes, A.C.S., SIGEP 104, pp. 1–15 [www document]. URL http://www.unb.br/ig/sigep/sitio104/sitio104english.pdfGoogle Scholar
Fiallo, E.A. & Jacobson, S.K. (1995) Local communities and PAs: attitudes of rural residents towards conservation and Machalilla National Park, Ecuador. Environmental Conservation 22 (3): 241–249.Google Scholar
Gillingham, S. & Lee, P.C. (1999) The impact of wildlife-related benefits on the conservation attitudes of local people around the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania. Environmental Conservation 26: 218–228.Google Scholar
Heinen, J.T. (1993) Park-people relations in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal: a socio-economic analysis. Environmental Conservation 20 (2): 25–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinen, J.T. (1996) Human behaviour, incentives and PA management. Conservation Biology 10: 681–684.Google Scholar
Hough, J.L. (1988) Obstacles to effective management of conflicts between national parks and surrounding human communities in developing countries. Environmental Conservation 15 (2):129–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IBGE, (2000) Censo demográfico 2000: resultados do universo por municípios. IBGE, Brazil [www document]. URL http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/default_censo_2000.shtmGoogle Scholar
IBGE, (2007) Contagem da população: 2007. IBGE, Brazil [www document]. URL http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/contagem2007/default.shtmGoogle Scholar
Infield, M. (1988) Attitudes of a rural community towards conservation and a local conservation area in Natal, South Africa. Biological Conservation 45: 21–46.Google Scholar
Infield, M. (2001) Cultural values: a forgotten strategy for building community support for protected areas in Africa. Conservation Biology 15: 800–802.Google Scholar
Ite, U. (1996) Community perceptions of the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. Environmental Conservation 23: 351–357.Google Scholar
Klink, C.A. & Machado, R.B. (2005) Conservation of the Brazilian Cerrado. Conservation Biology 19: 707–713.Google Scholar
Kuriyan, R. (2002) Linking local perceptions of elephants and conservation: Samburu pastoralists in Northern Kenya. Society and Natural Resources 15: 949–957.Google Scholar
Machado, R.B., Neto, M.B.R., Pereira, P.G.P., Caldas, E.F., Gonçalves, D.A., Santos, N.S., Tabor, K. & Steininger, M. (2004) Estimativas de perda da área do Cerrado brasileiro. Conservation International, Brasília, DF, Brasil. 25 pp. [www document]. URL http://www.conservation.org.br/RelatDesmatamCerrado.pdfGoogle Scholar
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858.Google Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L., Alvares-Berrios, N., Brandon, K., Bruner, A., Holland, M., Ponce, C., Saenz, M., Suarez, L., & Treves, A. (2006) Expanding PAs and incorporating human resource use: a study of 15 forest parks in Ecuador and Peru. Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy 2 (2): 32–44.Google Scholar
Newmark, W.D., Leonard, N.L., Sariko, H.I. & Gamassa, D.-G.M. (1993) Conservation attitudes of local people living adjacent to five PAs in Tanzania. Biological Conservation 63: 177–183.Google Scholar
Oliveira, P.S. & Marquis, R.J. (2002) The Cerrados of Brazil. New York, NY, USA: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveira-Filho, A.T. & Ratter, J.A. (2002) Vegetation physiognomies and woody flora of the Cerrado biome. In: The Cerrados of Brazil, ed. Oliveira, P.S. & Marquis, R.J., pp. 91–120. New York, NY, USA: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Ormsby, A. & Kaplin, B.A. (2005) A framework for understanding community resident perceptions of Masoala National Park, Madagascar. Environmental Conservation 32 (2): 156–164.Google Scholar
Peluso, N.L. (1993) Coercing conservation: the politics of state resource control. Global Environmental Change 3 (2): 199–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pimm, S.L., Russell, G.J., Gittleman, J.L. & Brooks, T.M. (1995) The future of biodiversity. Science 269: 347–350.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, A.S.L., Akcakaya, H.R., Andelman, S.J., Bakarr, M.I., Boitani, L., Brooks, T.M., Chanson, J.S., Fishpool, L.D.C., da Fonseca, G.A.B., Gaston, K.J., Hoffmann, M., Marquet, P.A., Pilgrim, J.D., Pressey, R.L., Schipper, J., Sechrest, W., Stuart, S.N., Underhill, L.G., Waller, R.W., Watts, M.E.J. & Yan, X. (2004) Global gap analysis: priority regions for expanding the global protected-area network. BioScience 54: 1092–1100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherl, L.M., Wilson, A., Wild, R., Blockhus, J., Franks, P., McNeely, J.A. & McShane, T.O. (2004) Can PAs Contribute to Poverty Reduction? Opportunities and Limitations. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.Google Scholar
Schmidt, I.B., Figueiredo, I.B. & Scariot, A. (2007) Ethnobotany and effects of harvesting on the population ecology of Syngonanthus nitens (Bong.) Ruhland (Eriocaulaceae), a NTFP from Jalapão Region, Central Brazil. Economic Botany 61 (1): 73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SEPLAN (2003) Plano de Manejo do Parque Estadual do Jalapão. Palmas, TO, Brazil [www document]. URL http://central2.to.gov.br/arquivo/24/48Google Scholar
da Silva, J.M.C. & Bates, J.M. (2002) Biogeographic patterns and conservation in the South American Cerrado: a tropical savanna hotspot. BioScience 52: 225–234.Google Scholar
Walpole, M. & Goodwin, H. (2001) Local attitudes towards conservation and tourism around Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Environmental Conservation 28: 160–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, P., Igoe, J. & Brockington, D. (2006) Parks and peoples: the social impact of protected areas. Annual Review of Anthropology 35: 251–277.Google Scholar
Wittemyer, G., Elsen, P., Bean, W.T., Coleman, A., Burton, O. & Brashares, J.S. (2008) Accelerated human population growth at PA edges. Science 321: 123–126.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ferreira and Freire supplementary material

Appendix 1

Download Ferreira and Freire supplementary material(File)
File 30.2 KB