Land Conflicts in Protected Areas: a Case Study of the Lower Area of the Itatiaia National Park

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present a case study on land conflict in a national park, a sensitive topic as it involves the issue of land regularization in a protected area. In order to analyze the land conflicts that occur around/in the lower part of Itatiaia National Park, where the actors involved are the landowners and the Park administration, it was necessary to identify the socio-environmental conflicts that occur in this area, its social and historical contextualization, the arguments of the parties involved, the management strategies used by the unit's administration and the consequent results. In this qualitative research, a questionnaire was applied, as well as on-site and online interviews. The data were analyzed using the Iramuteq software. The results showed that the land conflict arose from the tion of Decree 87.586/82, which expanded the Park. Despite the strategies adopted by the Park's management, the land conflict remains in place, which does not allow us to clearly state whether this study was carried out in the surroundings or in the interior of the conservation unit, since the land title regularization in that area has not been achieved. This opens up a range of possibilities
for other researchers to carry out studies in this area, considering that the conflicts, being dynamic, do not have a definitive solution, and considering that the development of Environmental Education by the management council of this conservation unity may be a possible solution in its mitigation.