Parcerias e unidades de conservação: um olhar sobre o processo de concessão dos serviços de uso público no Parque Estadual de Ibitipoca (MG) à luz da participação e controle social

Abstract

The process of granting services for public use in conservation units, such as the Ibitipoca State Park in Minas Gerais, is an approach by which the government allows private entities to take over the management of visitation support services within the protected area. However, despite the recognized benefits associated with visiting conservation units such as parks, currently, many of these areas live with a reality of precariousness and/or lack of infrastructure to support visitation, in addition to the inability to carry out new investments in the face of growing visitor demand. As a result, in recent years, there has been an increasing number of initiatives led by the State, in different spheres, aimed at implementing partnerships with the private sector and civil society for the management of visitation support services. In this context, the "State Parks Concession Program" of the state of Minas Gerais, presents as a proposal the improvement of infrastructure and the quality of services offered to visitors in conservation units. Provoking the following questions, what are the reasons for choosing the concession modality for the Ibitipoca State Park? How was the process of designing and modeling the concession of visitation support services in PEIb conducted? How was participation and social control implemented in this process? However, successful implementation depends on a careful balance between conservation objectives and sustainable public use. Inspired by this scenario, the present work aimed to understand the process of designing/modeling the concession of visitation support services in the Ibitipoca State Park (MG) in the light of participation and social control. The methodological procedures involved bibliographical research, documentary research in archives of public bodies and residents' associations, press articles, minutes of the management council of the Ibitipoca State Park and the case study, through interviews with territorial agents directly and indirectly involved in the process. With the aim of understanding how the concession process was conducted, based on the principles of social control, access to information, access to justice, society's participation, accountability and accountability. The main results therefore highlight limitations to participation and social control, especially in relation to the prior definition of the partnership model to be adopted, the restricted involvement of segments of society in the process of designing the concession modeling and low access to information. These are essential factors that are not fully integrated and are fundamental for interested parties to be involved from the beginning of the process, as a way of guaranteeing that the decisions taken are aligned with the principles of environmental conservation, sustainable development and social justice.