The experience with tourism-based boat trips in Caixa d´Aço Bay in Paraty, Brazil, highlights the problems of livelihoods in restricted-use protected area

Bahia, Natália C.F.

Chamy, Paula

da Silva Almeida, Lindonaldo

Rosa, Iliel Teixeira

Aquatic Commons

JANUARY 2018
39
Staying Afloat
The experience with tourism-based boat trips in Caixa d´Aço Bay in Paraty,  
Brazil, highlights the problems of  livelihoods in restricted-use protected areas
Despite the process of decolonization, indigenous peoples 
and descendants of slaves in Latin America have been 
largely excluded from the process of development.
The concept of development has been discussed since the early stages of civilization and varies 
according to the epoch and 
philosophical currents. Although 
society has advanced in sustainability 
and human well-being issues, in 
practice development remains 
based on economic growth, capital 
accumulation and social inequalities. 
Dominant ideologies in development 
concepts are followed by an 
emblematic factor—the inability 
of an economy to generate decent 
employment and to provide access to 
resources at different levels.
Despite the process of 
decolonization, indigenous peoples 
and descendants of slaves in Latin 
America have been largely excluded 
from the process of development. 
With the economy unable to generate 
decent employment and provide 
access to resources at different levels, 
the search for informal jobs has 
become a common practice, especially 
among traditional communities in 
underdeveloped areas who, faced 
with the lack of formal employment 
opportunities, struggle to preserve 
their livelihoods. Part of these 
initiatives come from the social logic 
of promoting community ties and 
reinforcing solidarity and co-operation 
among community members. 
Traditional communities living in 
protected areas are currently faced 
with the threat of restrictions in 
access to land and natural resources, 
forcing changes on patterns 
and sources of local livelihoods. 
Community empowerment and 
capacity building are essential to 
deal with this reality and to ensure 
fundamental rights, and social and 
cultural reproduction aligned to 
environmental conservation.
In this context, the efforts of the 
Association of Small-scale Fishermen 
and Boatmen of Trindade (ABAT) in 
Brazil to ensure local access to marine 
traditional territories and to maintain 
their livelihoods in a restricted-use 
protected area are worth examining. 
The Caiçara community of 
Trindade is located in the municipality 
of Paraty, in the south of Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil. Part of the traditional land is 
located inside the Serra da Bocaina 
National Park (PNSB), including Caixa 
d’Aço Bay, an important marine area 
for artisanal fishing and tourism. 
The PNSB is a no-take protected area 
established in 1971. 
Until the 1960s, families used to 
engage in artisanal fishing, small-scale 
agriculture and animal husbandry. 
Tourism has increased in Trindade 
as a result of federal development 
policies in the 1970s, and has become 
an important activity for the local 
economy since 1990. 
Livelihood diversification
Due to the restrictions in the use of 
natural resources at the PNSB, a group 
of fishermen identified an opportunity 
to diversify their livelihood through 
the implementation of boat trips in 
three beaches: de Fora, Meio and 
Caixa d´Aço Natural Pool. The boats, 
which were until then used only for 
fishing activities, have since been 
also used to transport tourists. Boat 
trips were carried out individually 
This article is by Natália C. F. Bahia 
(natalia.fbahia@gmail.com), Community 
Development Consultant, Association 
of Small-Scale Fishermen and Boatmen 
of Trindade (ABAT), Paula Chamy 
(paula.chamy@gmail.com), Researcher 
Collaborator of NEPAM/UNICAMP and 
CGCommons/UNICAMP, Iliel Teixeira 
Rosa (abatrindade@gmail.com),  
President of ABAT, and Lindonaldo da 
Silva Almeida (abatrindade@gmail.com),  
vice president of ABAT, Brazil
Tourism
Brazil
40
SAMUDRA RepoRt No. 78
until 1996, when the boatmen and 
fishermen created ABAT, aiming to 
establish collective rules for artisanal 
fishing and community-based tourism. 
Fishing is the basis of the Caiçara 
culture and a fundamental activity 
for fishermen and boatmen. Of late, 
boat trips have become a substantial 
part of the local community members’ 
income, being as, or more, important 
than fisheries. This tourism activity 
currently takes place inside the PNSB 
and nearby localities.
The formalization of tourism 
activities in national parks is in 
conformity with the objectives of the 
protected area category and involves 
a series of steps. To this end, ABAT has 
been carrying out numerous actions 
to ensure right of access, permanence 
and autonomy of boat trips inside 
the PNSB, with the support of 
universities, technical experts and 
funding agencies.
In 2010, the PNSB released a Letter 
of Intent (LoI) establishing rules and 
standards for the formalization of 
boat trips, including safety measures 
and training requirements for the 
boatmen. The LoI also attested that 
both PNSB managers and ABAT 
members are co-responsible for the 
boat trips inside the PNSB, 
characterizing the beginning of a 
legislative process of this activity.
Due to the impossibility of meeting 
all requirements, the LoI was not 
signed by ABAT members. The 
formalization process stagnated until 
November 2012, when a working 
group was formed by PNSB managers, 
representatives of ABAT and partners. 
Since then, after discussions, 
an authorization term between ABAT 
and PNSB to regulate the boat trips 
has been introduced.
Among the legal instruments that 
regulate visits to protected areas in 
Brazil—authorization, permits and 
concessions—authorization is the 
most fragile since it can be suspended 
at any time. On the other hand, it 
is the most feasible for community-
based enterprises that do not have 
funds to compete with large 
corporations attracted by the tourism 
potential of the region. As a result, 
there are social and labour exclusions 
in the area. 
The demand for the authorization 
of boat trips encouraged two 
consultants (co-authors of this article) 
to support ABAT in the collective 
planning and execution of an 
outreach project carried out 
between 2015 and 2016. This project 
received financial aid from Casa 
Social-Environmental Fund and 
worked along three lines of action: 
institutional strengthening; basic 
cost-benefit analysis of boat trips; 
and capacity building focused on 
traditional people and tourism 
activities in laws pertaining to 
conservation. 
All the strategies developed 
(four workshops to formulate the 
basic cost-benefit analysis, and four 
other workshops to discuss specific 
regulations) were based on combining 
local and technical-scientific 
knowledge. Institutional development 
activities included organization of 
documents and participation in ABAT 
meetings. The active learning cycle 
(planning-monitoring-evaluating) and 
collective learning space promotion 
were also important components of 
the methodology adopted.
Cost-benefit analysis
The basic cost-benefit analysis was 
adapted to a community-based 
enterprise, and allowed the boatmen 
and fishermen to consider the real 
costs and revenues of the activity 
as well as to reflect upon possible 
pAUlA ChAMY
the efforts of ABAt fishermen and boatmen to ensure local access to marine traditional 
territories and to maintain their livelihoods in a restricted-use protected area are interesting
B R A z i l
JANUARY 2018
41
ways of reducing costs and fostering 
innovations and improvements in the 
service provided to tourists. The use of 
informative and simplified language 
in the workshops made it possible 
for all participants to understand 
the regulations related to visiting 
in protected areas, and traditional 
peoples’ rights. 
Relevant issues, such as proposals 
to improve the boat trips, and 
alternatives to stimulate tourism in 
the winter season, were also 
identified to balance the objectives 
of environmental conservation, local 
economic development and visitor 
experience. Thus, the representatives 
of ABAT were able to plan together 
how to present community demands 
at PNSB advisory council and 
thematic meetings, and improve ABAT 
participation and representation in 
the meetings.
Although many steps of the action 
plan developed by the working group 
have already been carried out in the 
last five years, the formalization of 
boat trips is still an ongoing process. 
The delay in effectively establishing 
the partnership between ABAT and 
the PNSB, including institutional 
and structural limitations from the 
environmental agency, was one 
of the greatest challenges of the 
negotiation process. The search for 
preventive (rather than responsive) 
alternatives to deal with uncertainties 
and difficulties is necessary, as is 
continuous advancement in 
empowering local representatives 
towards a balance in power relations 
between the government and 
the community. 
The fragility of the authorization 
term to regulate boat trips in the 
PNSB causes insecurity and 
apprehension among the boatmen/
fishermen. The National System 
of Conservation Units (SNUC), the 
National Strategic Plan for Protected 
Areas (PNAP), and the guidelines 
for visiting protected areas are 
regulations committed to social 
inclusion. However, no legal 
instrument is adapted to formalize 
community-based enterprises in 
protected areas. Furthermore, those 
instruments that provide greater 
guarantee of permanence of the 
activity do not allow the participation 
of traditional communities on 
equal terms, when compared to 
large corporations.
The current environmental policy 
adopts the concession of tourism 
services in protected areas to large 
companies as a solution to manage 
and reduce the costs of conservation 
by the federal government. However, 
community-based tourism enterprises 
are clamouring to be included in 
these initiatives. 
At a meeting of the PNSB advisory 
council in November 2016, the 
managers of the PNSB presented a 
project proposal to bid for services to 
support visits. The project included 
the construction of the PNSB 
headquarters in Trindade; it, however, 
did not include the boat trips. The 
representatives of ABAT sent an 
official letter to PNSB managers to ask 
for clarification about the proposal; 
there remains the possibility of 
participating in the bidding process, 
perhaps restricted to consultation 
with the affected communities. Thus, 
guaranteeing the autonomy of local 
initiatives in relation to public power 
and capital and market networks 
remains a challenge.
The combination of local and 
technical-scientific knowledge was 
essential to promote collective 
construction, social participation and 
positioning of the representatives of 
ABAT in different decision-making 
moments. Gradual changes and social 
transformation have been observed 
over time. Collective resistance actions, 
such as those designed by the project, 
must be strengthened to ensure the 
access to rights, human well-being and 
environmental conservation.
Improvements in public policies 
and legal instruments with respect to 
local communities and community-
based enterprises are necessary to 
promote autonomy and security to 
them. Tourism-related activities 
should be considered, in addition to 
economic aspects, as opportunities 
to adopt co-management approaches 
that mediate social conflicts in 
traditional territories overlapping 
protected areas.                                         
http://cercle.lu/download/partenariats/
BarefootGuidetoOrganisationsWholeBook.pdf 
Barefoot guide to working with 
organisations and social change. 
Comm unity Development 
Resource Association (CDRA)
https://www.icsf.net/en/monographs/
article/EN/36-social-security 
Social Security for Fishworkers in 
Brazil: A Case Study of Pará
For more
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Brazil: tourism, staying afloat

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