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Abstract
The study is based in the Environmental Protection Area of Guaraqueçaba located in the Atlantic Forest of the State of Paraná, southern Brazil. EPAs in Brazil allow private ownership, resource extraction, and agriculture according to predefined land use laws. A systems’ approach was adopted to define the main interacting variables needed to understand the local socio-economic context and the causes of an observed increase in illegal activities. The Atlantic Forest is of particular importance as it was declared a “hotspot” in 1992 for its endemic biodiversity and high risk of destruction; today only 7% of the original cover remains as scattered fragments. A series of increasing social and environmental conflicts have been observed in the EPA because the Law restricted traditional agricultural practices without defining alternatives to sustain locals. As a result, new forms of illegal behaviors emerged, such as indiscriminate extraction and hunting, with devastating effects. The methodology adopted herein assists in understanding the core of these conflicts and permits the formulation of strategies to minimize them. Based on the redefinition of the perception of sustainability both from the local people and law enforcement perspectives and through the reconciliation of traditional practices and cultural issues, it allows the reconnection of people to their place and its ecological dynamics.
Parent Publication
Citation
Agudelo, Libia Patricia Peralta; Marangon, Maristela. 2006. Landscape Conservation and Social Tension in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: Challenges for Implementing Sustainability. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 550-557
