Protected Areas and the territory in Brazil: case studies in four Brazilian biomes

Abstract

What are the transformations in the uses of the territory that a Protected Area (PA) promotes in Brazil? This is the starting point for this article. Considering that the PAs of the different federated entities make up a considerable extension of the national territory, this question gains relevance and complexity, since the Brazilian system defines twelve different PA categories with a distinct set of permissions and prohibitions for each one. This complexity is combined with a territory that has diverse situations resulting from its historical formation. In order to answer the initial question, we selected 20 PAs in 4 biomes (Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Caatinga and Amazon) for the case studies, combining semi-structured interviews with key actors and field observations to trigger the analytical categories of Social-spatial Formation (Santos, 2005) and Used Territory (Santos, 2007). By way of conclusion, this article states that the transformations in the uses of the territory promoted by the PAs are based on four main variables: history of the uses of the territory, population density, complementarity with economic interests, and environmental conditions. The combination of these variables in each territory will condition the type of transformation of the territory uses that a PA promotes.

Keywords:
Protected Area; use of the territory and Social-spatial Formation