In Search of Sustainable Societies: Reflections on Environmental Interpretation in Fully Protected Conservation Units from the Study Case of the Abrolhos Marine National Park
Ecotourism; Environmental Interpretation; Environmental Education; Conservation Units; Sustainable Societies.
The serious socio-environmental crisis we are experiencing requires structural changes in the relationship between society and nature. This work seeks to improve the understanding of a tool with great potential to contribute to these transformations: Environmental Interpretation (EI) applied to ecotourism in Brazilian Fully Protected Conservation Units (CUs). With the general aim of reflecting on the relevance of EI plans in Fully Protected CUs in Brazil, the Interpretative Plan (IP) of the Abrolhos Marine National Park, Brazil, was analyzed, with a view on the transition to Sustainable Societies. For it, this study was divided into two chapters, in the form of scientific papers. In the first one, the objective was to investigate the importance of EI as a tool of critical environmental education (EE) in ecotourism in CUs, highlighting the role of IP elaboration. This in order to define the criteria to analyze the IP of the Abrolhos Marine National Park. Through a qualitative analysis of data, a literature review was carried out, seeking an interdisciplinary dialogue between different discursive perspectives to understand the paradigm of EI and EE in the scope of ecotourism in CUs. As a result, it can be seen that, for IPs to enhance ecotourism as an activity with a positive socio-environmental impact, reflecting contributions to deep sociocultural transformations, they need to be aligned with environmental education principles, that is, critical EE. In the second chapter, the aim was to make a qualitative diagnosis of the participatory nature of the elaboration process of the IP of Abrolhos Marine National Park, prepared between 2017 and 2018. For that, three sources of evidence were used for analysis: documentation, unsystematic observation, and open semi-structured interviews, carried out in April 2022. Among the interviewees, there are ICMBio employees and local collaborators representing the thirteen participating institutions. The results show that: although the participants were heard, there was a lack of a better understanding of EI; the amount of activities was punctual and insufficient; and there was also a lack of greater involvement of people from the community in the time process. In addition, it was found that the awareness obtained as a result of the process was punctual and ephemeral. Therefore, our main diagnosis of the case is that, by not linking the IP to a deeper educational character, according to the principles of critical EE, an opportunity is lost to encourage participants to question more directly and deeply certain values and principles of society. This in order to contribute to a greater clarification and engagement of the people in the structural transformations required by the search of solutions to current environmental problems, in the perspective of the transition to sustainable societies.