This study evaluated how three conservation approaches implemented by the
Brazilian Sea Turtle Conservation Program (the TAMAR Project) are related to local
support for sea turtle conservation in Praia do Forte, Brazil. Four species of sea turtles
nest in Praia do Forte. In Praia do Forte, locals harvested sea turtles for their meat and
eggs on a regular basis to support subsistence needs. The three conservation strategies
analyzed are employment opportunities and alternative sources of income from sea turtle
ecotourism; enforcement of federal sea turtle protection laws; and implementation of
environmental education programs via sea turtle ecotourism. These conservation
strategies, which are implemented since 1982, represent both top-down and bottom-up
conservation paradigms.
Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered through nine months of fieldbased
research (between May 2006 and September 2008), using tools of participant
observation, semi-structured interviews, and key informant interviews.
Results indicate that conservation strategies implemented by TAMAR seem to
influence local support for sea turtle conservation. Income and environmental education
programs to the local children are cited as the main benefits sea turtle conservation
brings to the community. Enforcement caused resentment when first implemented, but is
now perceived as a necessary strategy to protect sea turtles. The relative lack of
community participation in sea turtle conservation seems not to have hampered local
support for sea turtle conservation. In fact, the majority of respondents perceive TAMAR as the most appropriate entity to manage sea turtles, and only a minority
believes the community should co-manage sea turtle conservation with TAMAR.
Though these three conservation strategies seem to help maintain traditional ecological
knowledge, the future of this knowledge across generations is uncertain.
Though community-based sea turtle conservation is working at the community
scale, external factors associated with tourism development at the larger scale seem to
influence both livelihoods and sea turtle survival. On a negative side, larger scale
tourism development is associated with an increase in the cost of living, the introduction
of drugs, violence and greater sense of insecurity, changes in the local fishing culture,
and with ongoing threats to sea turtle survival. Tourism development is associated with
benefits as well, including improvements in the local infrastructure, employment
opportunities, and alternative sources of income.
Since tourism development, at both local and regional scales, is unlikely to
decrease any time soon, sea turtle survival no longer solely depends in getting local
support for sea turtle conservation, but also in addressing the external factors that drive
conservation and consumption of sea turtles. Overall, sea turtle ecotourism is one part of
a larger strategy for meeting local socioeconomic needs while also protecting sea turtles
in Praia do Forte.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-05-761 |
| Date | 16 January 2010 |
| Creators | Pegas, Fernanda V. |
| Contributors | Stronza, Amanda |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
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