Banca de DEFESA: Julio Cesar Spindola Itacaramby

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : Julio Cesar Spindola Itacaramby
DATE: 14/06/2023
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: CDS - Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável
TITLE:

AN ANALYSIS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF VISITATION ON BRAZILIAN NATIONAL PARKS ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLES OF ECOTOURISM

KEY WORDS:

Ecotourism; Visitation; National Parks; Protected Areas; Management

PAGES: 170
BIG AREA: Outra
AREA: Ciências Ambientais
SUMMARY:

Protected areas are one of the most important tools for biodiversity conservation. But only the effective management of these areas can guarantee the expected positive results. The demand for tourism in these areas has grown significantly in recent decades, especially in Brazil. Incorporating the growing demand brings with it the need for special attention to visitation management, to maximize the positive impacts and minimize the negative impacts of tourism. Ecotourism is a differentiated form of tourism that, based on a set of principles, aims to reconcile visits to natural areas with nature conservation and the well-being of local populations. Considering that ecotourism, in its ideal form, can be a tool for solving the existing problem between the increase in demand for tourism in protected areas and the need to guarantee the protection of biodiversity, this research carried out an analysis of the management of visitation at Brazilian national parks, based on the perception of key actors on ecotourism. 409 interviews were conducted with visitors and managers of ten Brazilian national parks. The Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) methodology was used, with the application of structured questionnaires with closed questions and answers on a Likert scale about the perception of importance and performance of eight ecotourism principles and fifteen attributes of visitation management defined from the theoretical references. The perception of the importance of ecotourism principles was similar for both key actors and was close to the maximum of the scale, with the most important being those related to minimizing environmental impacts, stimulating environmental awareness, direct benefits for conservation and respect for local culture. Perception of performance varied between actors and principles, with managers' perception of performance being lower than that of visitors. The performance of the principles considered most important were the lowest in the ranking. The IPA analysis indicated, for both actors, a need to concentrate management efforts on the principles of minimizing environmental impacts, stimulating environmental awareness, and direct benefits for nature conservation, which belong to the environmental dimension of ecotourism. It was also found that the principles of the socioeconomic dimension demonstrated more difficulty in forming an opinion and evaluation of the key actors, in a way that indicates the need for improvement in the monitoring and dissemination of associated indicators. One of the main conclusions is that it is necessary to qualify the experience of visiting Brazilian national parks, especially based on the principles of ecotourism of the environmental dimension. Also, that a more qualified experience is desired, but not yet satisfactorily met. Qualification based on stimulating environmental awareness and returning direct benefits to conservation has great potential to become an instrument to improve the effectiveness of the management of these protected areas. At the end, recommendations are made to the governing bodies to encourage research on visitation management, incorporation of ecotourism principles into their philosophical and practical basis, and prioritization of efforts to meet the principles of ecotourism in the environmental dimension.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1907032 - ANDRE DE ALMEIDA CUNHA
Externa à Instituição - CAMILA GONÇALVES DE OLIVEIRA RODRIGUES - UFRRJ
Externo à Instituição - ELIMAR PINHEIRO DO NASCIMENTO - UnB
Interno - 2196754 - JOSE LUIZ DE ANDRADE FRANCO