Marine extractive reserves of Brazil: contradictions of legal order, sustainability and ecological aspect

Abstract

The objective was to analyze the Marine Extractive Reserves role as a tool for co-management of coastal and marine resources by beneficiaries and discuss the conflicts generated between this management model and objectives contained in the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC, in Portuguese). The Marine Extractive Reserves are the materialization of a community-based protected area model through a system of co-management where natural resources are managed pursuing its sustainable use. However, the model transferred to the coastal and marine environment finds conflicts of legal order, given the current Brazilian legislation. The conflict is due to the denial of access to resources in the areas demarcated as a reserve by citizens not designated as "traditional population". This access restriction does not find basis in Brazilian law, which can generate conflicts between beneficiaries and "excluded". Extractive Reserves are areas where the culture and values of traditional population should be preserved concurrently with the sustainable use of natural resources. But until today there is no long-term studies that prove empirically whether the resources used are being managed in order to perpetuate themselves, considering their use by communities. Biological and anthropogenic factors must be constantly monitored in order to separate the fluctuations capture of natural order from those caused by human beings. With this, it is possible that catch rates supported by extractive system become more reliable. The state needs to turn its attention to this type of protected area, giving greater institutional support and reviewing the contradictions of legal order.