The expansion of Brazilian democratic spaces has enabled shared management of natural resources through participatory processes. The Conservation Units, since the beginning of the 90s, have endeavored to insert this perspective in theirs various categories, chiefly in the case of extractive reserves, a category that holds participation as an essential principle of its existence. This context enables the emergence of new social players and more complex claims, as can be seen from the history of women's struggle, a social group often marginalized from decision-making process. Women have assumed a differentiated role, determining new equitable spaces that expand discussions on the sustainability of ecological processes essential for their subsistence. In this aspect, this paper analyses participative practices exercised by women shellfish collectors in deciding spaces promoted by the creation process of Reserva Extrativista Acaú-Goiana and its contributions to reinforce the citizenship exercised in favor of the environmental conservation.
Participative process; Extractive reserve; Women shellfish collectors
