This paper deals with the environmental conflict around the Parque Nacional das Emas (Emas's National Park, PNE) and the social representation of environmental conservation that the PNE's surrounding populations make. After direct observation, data research, application of words free association techniques and semi-structured interviews, it was concluded that there is a dispute over cultural meanings, based not only on the objective interests, but also on the meanings that the distinct social groups delineate in the common construction of the world around them.
Environmental conflicts; Social representations; Protected area; Cerrado