Democratic participation in the management of common natural resources and the native populations in the Southern Coast of Paraná

Abstract

This project aims to contextualize what today is known in environmental or socio-environmental conservation in Brazil as "social participation" or "participatory management", by using social and political theory, more specifically on participatory and deliberative democracy, its criticisms and complementation. A case study of the traditional population around Guaratuba Bay, southern coast of Parana State, Brazil, showed that family units are the foundations of the local organization and social reproduction of the native population, where relations and rules for the use of common natural resources were established based on pluri-activity and on their daily decisions. The management council of Guaratuba APA (a protected area category established by Brazilian legislation) - the official social participation forum on environmental issues - despite being an important decision-making body, affecting the management of common natural resources on Garatuba Bay, presents weak deliberation and is deficient in terms of its civil society representation. It reflects a legacy of conflicts and disagreement between the local community and environmental agencies and legislation in which civil society did not effectively take part in drafting. These different levels of management of common natural resources are still poorly integrated and democratic official bodies are not sufficiently adequate to address all the cultural diversity and the different situations that pervade the relationship between nature and society.