Implementation of the service concession program in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park: challenges from the perspective of the local community

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that relates the population's perception of the concession process to the private sector of the structuring services of the LençóisMaranhenses National Park (PNLM), resulting from the implementation of the Parques do Brasil program: Visitation Implementation Strategies. The method used was qualitative analysis, with a case study, adopting direct field observation, semi-structured interviews aimed at managers and the local population as data sources, as well as public documents. The PNLM case was chosen because it is one of the seven concessions announced by the government’s program, has traditional population both in and around the park's extension, and is in the state with the lowest per capita income in Brazil. Furthermore, the analyzed territory is situated in the range of low Index of Municipality Human Development (IMHD between 0.500 and 0.599). It was found that the perception of most of the interviewees was not contrary to the services concession to the private sector. On the other hand, the lack of knowledge about the concession progress and the information asymmetry was evidenced in the reports of the interviewed population. The results converge with the premise assumed: regarding the lack of recognition by the local population, as the final beneficiary of the tourism economy. It was evident the lack of information regarding the future situation of people living within the PNLM area, this generates a lot of concern on part of the PNLM residents. The results indicate that, although the program is expected to stimulate the hiring of local labor and buy local products, these incentives may not to be sufficient to contribute to the insertion of the most vulnerable population, because of the low capacity this population to obtain advantage over the opportunities that the program implementation can generate.