The (re)cathegorization of conservation unities and its implications to traditional livelihoods

Abstract

The process of creation, implementation and management of Conservation Units is permeated by a scenario of disputes, in which the rights and interests of traditional communities have been subtracted. The dynamics that make up the traditional territories have not been considered by the legally protected area of the Conservation Unit, with different implications from their conservation objectives and management category. This reaffirms the context of vulnerability of territories with direct implications for the maintenance of traditional livelihoods, diversification of activities, modes of appropriation, food sovereignty, conditions of adaptation and change, including risks to the sustainability of the environment. As a framework for this article, two contexts of analysis are mobilized. In one, the processes of licensing and environmental compensation of large enterprises in the coastal zone are associated to the process of creating Conservation Units, arbitrarily in the category of integral protection, in detriment of Extractive Reserves (Resex) and Sustainable Development Reserves (RDS). Such a condition weakens the human, social, physical, economic and natural assets that make up the ways of life and, consequently, the territory of the traditional populations. In another, the context of the re-categorization of Conservation Units deviates the management space by involving other bridging organizations, such as the judiciary, outlining a scenario that reaffirms the vulnerability context of traditional communities, since the dimension of informal institutions and territorial expressions are not considered. As an analytical framework, the article presents the perspective of Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. The focus on the non-disjunctive view of human, environmental, political and institutional dimensions articulates elements of the creation, management and re-categorization of Conservation Units that influence the context of vulnerability and the assets that make up the livelihoods of traditionally occupied territories.