Regulation for guiding visitors in the State Systems of Units of Conservation in Brazil

Abstract Besides conservation of biodiversity, the Units of Conservation must promote public use in contact with nature, and become an economic resource for the region, bringing society closer to nature and promoting its sustainable use. In Brazil, there are rules of the Ministry of Environment and Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation that regulate guided tours in Federal Units of Conservation. Remains to know how the activity is regulated in other spheres of the National System of Units of Conservation. Therefore, this article aims to identify the legal frameworks for the activity of guiding visitors in the Units of Conservation of the States and their compliance to the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment. The methodology used was documentary research and data survey of the legal frameworks, carried out through research on the websites and by sending emails to state management agencies. The regulations of the Units were compared to the guidelines to verify the compliance with these. The percentage of federal units of Brazil which have a legal framework of the activity is 18.5%, and only Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro meet almost all of the guidelines. In conclusion, there is still a long way ahead when it comes to the creation of rules and procedures that simultaneously encourage visits accompanied by qualified nature guides and biodiversity conservation. Thus, state management agencies must be committed to the development of these legal frameworks, promoting improvements in the development of the activity and awareness of society.

摘要 除生物多样性保护目标外，保护地（Units of Conservation）还应推动公众开展自然接触式游憩活动，成为区域经济发展的重要资源，拉近社会与自然的距离，促进自然的可持续利用。在巴西，环境部（Ministry of Environment）与奇科·门德斯生物多样性保护研究所（Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation）已出台相关规定，对联邦保护地内的游客导览活动进行规范。目前尚不明确国家保护地系统其他层级的相关活动监管情况。为此，本文旨在明确各州保护地针对游客导览活动的法律框架，并检验其是否符合环境部发布的相关指导原则。本次研究采用文献研究法与法律框架数据调研法，通过官方网站检索及致函各州管理机构完成数据收集，并将各保护地的监管规则与指导原则进行比对，以验证合规性。调研结果显示，巴西仅18.5%的联邦保护地拥有该活动的专门法律框架，且仅有圣埃斯皮里图州与里约热内卢州基本符合所有指导原则。研究结论表明，在构建既能鼓励合格自然向导带队开展参观活动、又能兼顾生物多样性保护的规则与流程方面，仍有较长的改进路径。各州管理机构应致力于完善相关法律框架，推动导览活动提质增效，并提升社会公众的保护意识。