Concession in tourism services and partnerships in the Marine National Park of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

Abstract

Protected areas are created with the aim of promoting environmental protection and preserving biodiversity, thus responding to the growing need to maintain the sustainability of the planet. In Brazil, the increase in the number of protected areas is evident, namely in the case of Parks, where tourism is one of several activities compatible with the management of such areas. However, simply establishing protected areas doesn’t necessarily ensure their efficiency, and therefore public-private partnerships arise. In this work, we analyze the importance of partnerships and concessions in public use support services at the Marine National Park of Fernando de Noronha, in order to demonstrate the viability of sustainable management of tourism and funding in National Parks. To understand how such partnerships and concessions actually work and what their importance to the sustainability of tourism is, we conducted interviews and made in loco observations during 2012 and 2013. We found that the concession of services that involve supporting the public use of the park enabled great improvements in the infrastructure and in tourist services provided in the protected area, and created jobs for the local community. We were, however, unable to examine the environmental impacts of the concession because specific reports were not made available. We also found that there is a solid network of organizations, government and businesses that work together in planning, implementing, managing and supervising tourism in the Park, bringing positive results to the sustainability of this activity. This network is possible through signed agreements and above all due to the existence and operation of the protected area’s Advisory Council. This study is therefore innovative, for it deals with the first concession granted by the Brazilian government in an insular territory and shows initial results about the efficiency of that concession. We hope it will induce new research that culminates in the validation of this management model for tourism in protected areas, through the preservation and valorization of the environment and responsible use.