Perspectivas para a conservação do Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca – MG: participação social, avaliação, manejo e percepção ambiental

Abstract

The protected natural areas, not always desired as responsible spaces for the conservation of biodiversity, at the beginning as public monuments and protected because of to its scenic beauty, today it assumes the role of reconciling public use with the protection of natural resources, requiring social participation. The effective planning and management will direct the attempt and the trend of the administration in these areas, to conserve natural resources. Thus the social participation of communities around the units of conservation becomes a strategy, a recognition that the problems that affect these areas are inherent in their socio-environmental, economic, political, spatial and cultural context. The internal management of the unit, as much of the biodiversity as the visitation, in the position of dealing with conflicts of use, contemplating methodologies for minimum impact. Thus, the profile and perception of the visitor are able to provide data that orientariam the management. In this context, the present study aims to understand the interfaces above, fulfilling the important task of investigating the conservation and ecotourism in a park, in this case the State Park of Ibitipoca - MG. The steps of the research were presented in thematic chapters. It was made a significant bibliographic survey that aimed to analyze the evolution of environmental conservation models, ecotourism in protected areas and environmental perception. Moreover, the main methods used for obtaining the datas were the participant observation, questionnaires and interviews, which included as much the qualitative approach as the quantitative. Through this work, it was possible to obtain information about the reality of the environment, village of Conception Ibitipoca, also about the diagnosis of the current state of management in the park, in addition to evaluation by visitors. The datas about the profile and environmental perception to show opinions, attitudes and conduct of the visitors, generating capable information to guide the administration of the park for a proper management of the unit. The final consideration suggest some directions for the an effectived Environmental Education Program for the Ibitipoca State Park and its surroundings. It is believed that this proposal can be extended to other units of conservation, provided that the own features of each area should be considered.