Comunidades de seringueiros das reservas extrativistas do Rio Cautário, RO: aspectos socioeconômicos, percepção ambiental e potenciais conflitos na interação com a fauna

Abstract

Ethnoecological researches are based on the view that nature conservancy is directly linked to biological, cultural, economical and social issues. In this sense, traditional knowledge can be defined as knowledge and know-how concerning natural and supernatural world, orally passed down from generation to generation. Rubber tappers in the Amazon are gatherers and agriculturists, who produce under family, selling the surplus for additional income. They live in wooden houses built on stilts, most adapted to the system of flood. In the extractive reserves rubber tapper develops their own activities and knows the details and peculiarities of the environment. Knowing the relationship that these communities have with the environment and the way they conduct their practices, besides presenting the situation in which they live, is of paramount importance for the conservation of protected areas. Knowing their needs and how to improve their conditions may reflect upon the maintenance of environmental integrity as well. Moreover, the livelihood of rubber tappers and the fact that they have livestock, small gardens and simple houses favor the hypothesis that conflicts exist between those populations and animals that live around their homes. This study was conducted at Federal and State Extractive Reserves of Cautário River, in Rondônia. It has been divided into two chapters. The first depicts a socio-economic profile of residents and investigates the environmental perception of ourselves in relation to reserves. The second deals with potential human-animal conflict and its implications for the conservancy of endangered species. It was seen that there is a considerable number of conflicts between these populations and wildlife, and that among the measures being taken in retaliation to these events, they kill many animals. Out of the animals mentioned, 23.3% are in the IUCN categories of threat. Knowing that such relationships exist is of paramount importance in order that measures are taken by the competent agents in the reserves of the study. Instructions on the handling of livestock, gardens, environmental education and monitoring the situation were highlighted as notably potential to mitigate such events.