Ecoturismo em reservas particulares do patrimônio natural e seu papel na conservação dos ecossistemas brasileiros

Abstract

Ecotourism represents one of the types of tourism that most interests contemporary society, since it relates the contact of human being with preserved nature while contributing to the local environment conservation. In Brazil, a significant diversity of ecotourism attractions is found within the natural protected areas, in which the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural - RPPN represents the private category. The RPPNs are created by voluntary act from the private owner for the conservation of ecosystems, and it has become one of the main strategies in Brazilian ecosystems that face extreme threats. These areas follow a world-wide trend of enlarging private efforts for conserving biodiversity, where its compatible use through tourism is allowed under an appropriate planning and management. A descriptive and exploratory research was developed, under the qualitative and quantitative methods, with the objective to evaluate the importance of the RPPNs to the ecotourism and its role in the conservation of ecosystems. The analysis of the RPPNs in Brazil, compared to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, was based in the application of questionnaires, interviews and forms in 14 RPPNs that develop ecotourism around Brazil, and in seven areas in Rio Grande do Sul. The research was guided by the possibility of ecotourism as an instrument for the conservation of ecosystems in the RPPNs, and the results demonstrate a diversity of practices and trends being developed in these environments. The relation between environment and ecotourism in the scope of the RPPNs demonstrates that they are effective strategies to the conservation of Brazilian ecosystems. However, the practices of the concepts of ecotourism are still a challenge for its evolution.