An overview on visitation and guiding visitors in Brazilian Parks

Abstract

Proposal: Public use of Conservation Units (UCs), mainly through visits, can bring direct and indirect benefits to society. The parks constitute areas prone to visitation and can be an opportunity for visitors to know, understand, and value the natural and cultural resources, while contributing to local socio-economic development. An overview of visitation in Brazilian parks, as well as of the visitor guiding services, important in visit planning, is of utmost importance for managing the increasing public use of these areas and for the evaluation of the impact of the activity on local communities. Objective: The present work aims, through documentary research and survey with managers of Conservation Units, to contribute with data on the current situation of visitation in Brazilian parks and visitor guiding services in these areas. Methodological Design: We draw on data from the National Register of Conservation Units (CNUC) and on information from a questionnaire to managers, designed and sent through Google.docs. Results: Based on the CNUC data, only 33.42% of the Parks are open to visitors. The highest percentage of units open to visitors are the parks managed at the federal (45.07%) or municipal (44.55%) levels, as well as those located in the Caatinga (40.00%) or Atlantic Forest (38, 91%). Regarding the information provided by the park managers, it is evident that the number of visitors per year is more than 10,000 (46.88%), that the local guides work exclusively in 52.13%, being present in 81.25% of them, and that in 39.06% of the areas guiding activities are carried out in an associative way. Originality: Despite the increasing number of visitors, the proportion of parks with visitation, national and statewide, has not changed in the last 10 years. The local guides have a leading role in guiding visitors in Brazilian parks. The collective practice of guides is a reality in little more than a third of these areas.