Parks - IUCN

PARKS VOL 9 NO 3 • OCTOBER 1999
have begun to overcome this resistance, and even to convert it into support for
conservation measures.
One local group whose opposition may require some effort to overcome is
composed of individuals who use public lands on the Serra do Mar to grow cash
crops, mainly bananas. This group comprises less then 2% of the inhabitants of the
Serra do Mar region, but it includes most of the people who actually live within the
protected areas and proposed linkage corridors. Banana growing is relatively
unimportant for the local economy as a whole, but it is a form of social security for
many local families: an older family member keeps the banana plantation while the
other family members do seasonal jobs in tourism, fisheries, and construction. During
the low season for tourism, or during the closed season for fishing, unemployed
family members pitch in at the banana fields and the family makes do until next year.
One way to break these cycles and reduce these families’ dependence on slash-and-burn
banana planting is to attract tourists to the region year-round. The current low tourist
season is during the southern winter, when cool weather keeps most people away
from the beach resorts at the foot of the Serra do Mar. This season, however, coincides
with the high season for ecotourism, which peaks during the northern summer. It also
coincides with the dry season in the Serra do Mar, when forest trails are more
accessible and wildlife is more easily seen. By developing ecotourism in the region’s
protected areas, it may be possible to even out of tourist flow over the year and thus
convert many seasonal jobs into permanent ones, whose holders can then give up
the family banana field and join the national social security system.
Summary
In summary, the key to winning local support for the Serra do Mar corridor is to
integrate it into the local economy. Command-and-control approaches to nature
conservation have proven ineffective in Brazil, where people traditionally have
learned how to get around unpopular laws imposed from above. Success can only
be achieved if local stakeholders see benefits in protected areas and conservation
laws. Opposition then turns to support, and locally-driven initiatives combined with
social pressure prove far more effective than centrally-planned law enforcement.
Fortunately, the Serra do Mar is not some remote range surrounded by land-hungry
peasants; it rises in one of the most beautiful coastal resort regions in the world, next
to some of the largest and wealthiest cities of the southern hemisphere. The local
economy already revolves around the tourists and second-home owners who come
seeking the region’s natural beauty. The great challenge of the Serra do Mar corridor
is to harness this economic system to help preserve the splendid ecological system
of the Serra do Mar, created by five million years of undisturbed evolution, without
damaging it in the process.
Silvana Campello and George Georgiadis are partners in Tangará Environment and
Tourism Consultants. They live at the coastal base of Serra do Mar and are in the
organization Association ProBocaina working to protect part of the range. Caixa
Postal 73158, Angra Dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro 23900-00 tangara@infolink.com.br
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