Turismo, populações tradicionais e ambiente

Abstract

Aiming to study public policy development through tourism in the extreme western coastland of Ceará, we carried out a research on the tour “Rota das Emoções: Delta – Jeri – Lençóis”, the fruit of a partnership between three Brazilian states: Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão. This tour creates an extensive regional tourism corridor. We focused on the effects of the changes which took place along its implementation, particularly in Bitupitá and Venâncio, both in the municipality of Barroquinha. In low economic development areas, tourism is conceived by the Ministry of Tourism as a promoter of economic and social development, since it acts as a propellant of other activities linked to the tourist industry. Taking this into account, we aim to analyze the impacts it has on populations of fishermen and farmers who live in the aforementioned localities, considering traditional fish weir knowledge and kinship alliances. We used proposals and discussions in the field of tourism anthropology as analysis tools, highlighting the tension between society and environment, with a critical look at the notion of sustainable development (Leff, 2007 and Coriolanus, 2006). Methodologically, we followed the path of Ingold (2000), who discusses the abandon of the dichotomy nature / culture, emphasizing the relationships of integration between organism and environment (ecology of life).