Sobreposição de interesses na governança dos recursos hídricos: o caso da Baía do Iguape, Bahia, Brasil
Sobreposição de interesses na governança dos recursos hídricos: o caso da Baía do Iguape, Bahia, Brasil
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.992112518031
Palavras-chave: Governança; Recursos hídricos; Pesca artesanal; Reserva extrativista; Conflito ambiental.
Keywords: Governance; Water resources; Artisanal fishing; Extractive reserve; Environmental conflict.
Abstract: The term conservation unit in Brazil is legally attributed to areas intended to preserve representative samples of natural ecosystems and provide benefits to society. Among the models of conservation units, extractive reserves are established based on the recognition of the political and strategic dimensions of local traditional populations. Legally, the creation of an extractive reserve entails the establishment of a participatory planning and management model, with a majority participation of extractivists to ensure the maintenance of local biodiversity and their conditions for permanence. The objective of this article is to analyze the nuances involved in the participatory management process of water resources in the Marine Extractive Reserve of Baía do Iguape, Bahia, Brazil, an area where the main support for traditional communities is artisanal fishing, a cultural heritage that identifies individuals and regulates ways of life. To this end, the present work analyzed the environmental licensing process of the Pedra do Cavalo Hydroelectric Power Plant, a large-scale environmentally impactful project located upstream of the conservation unit, highlighting regulatory milestones and historical moments as constitutive elements of the environmental conflicts in Baía do Iguape. The text specifically scrutinizes the relationship between the entrepreneur and the environmental agencies responsible for oversight, pointing out shortcomings of the project that pose risks to the maintenance of the Iguape Bay ecosystem. A documentary analysis was conducted on legislation concerning protected areas, focusing on Bahia and Baía do Iguape, as well as on articles, journals, books, and other scientific publications. Furthermore, data was collected in the field through semi-structured interviews with fishermen and shellfish gatherers from a community within the reserve, and through a workshop on mapping risks and socio-environmental impacts, to understand whether extractive communities perceive changes in the space and whether their demands are incorporated into the deliberative spaces responsible for the management of the reserve's natural resources. The conclusions indicate that discursive and institutional aspects naturalize the unequal appropriation of territory, the material basis of the fishing communities' lives. Local communities perceive changes in the environmental quality of the space and do not feel included in the management of the reserve; that is, the perspectives of fishermen and shellfish gatherers are not incorporated into the decision-making processes of the current management model adopted in the conservation unit.
- FÁBIO PEDRO SOUZA DE FERREIRA BANDEIRA
- Sthefanny Lorenna West Soares