The present study had as objective to verify if the differences in socioeconomic pattern of the inhabitants of neighborhoods adjacent to the Municipal Park of Mangabeiras - PARMA, would lead to differences in the interaction of inhabitants of each neighborhood with the area. The answers of 30 inhabitants of each one of the three neighborhoods bordering the Mangabeiras Park (PARMA), in Belo Horizonte, capital of the State of Minas Gerais were analyzed. Half-open questionnaires were applied evaluating the interaction of the community with the park and its environment, and the conservation behavior. The general objective of the study was to provide information to the project of Environmental Education of the Mangabeiras Park, being the specific objective to verify if the socioeconomic differences influence in the interaction of the adjacent inhabitant with the Park. The results showed that the three communities differed in relation to the participation in the programs and projects of the Park, in relation to the disadvantages caused by the proximity to the Park and in relation to the importance of its existence, which was corroborated by the statistical analyses. In relation to the other questions, despite the non-occurrence of significant differences, qualitative differences were observed in the answers given by the inhabitants.
Conservation unit; urban forest, and socioeconomic development
