Environmental Interpretation in Federal Conservation Units

Abstract

Protected areas’ management is based on a legal and normative framework and on planning documents at different levels, from strategic to operational. Visiting these spaces allows society to get closer to protected resources, but visitation management must conciliate both conservations and visitors’ interests, making the public an ally of conservation practices. To contribute to the achievement of these goals, environmental interpretation is used as a strategy worldwide which is also included as one of the objectives of the Brazil’s National System of Nature Conservation Units. The management plan is the main guiding document for managing Brazilian protected areas, so we can argue that being present in this planning document is crucial for a given activity to be implemented in a protected area. Based on this premise, the present study sought to characterize the presence of environmental interpretation in the management plans of federal conservation units. Through quantitative and qualitative procedures, 200 documents available in digital media published between 1978 and 2019 were analyzed. The results show a favorable framework for the implementation of interpretative activities in such spaces, however great differences were identified between the categories of protected areas. It was observed that the legal recommendation for the use of interpretation in protected areas was decisive for expanding the indication of this strategy in management plans of the various categories of protected areas in Brazil. This work contributes to the knowledge of the use of interpretation in Brazilian protected areas and seeks to encourage more in-depth discussions on the subject in Brazil.