Without toilets and water, natural parks scare away tourists – 04/11/2023 – Environment

The lack of basic infrastructure is a barrier for tourists to visit natural parks across the country, according to a survey by Instituto Semeia with managers and technicians responsible for 371 of the 508 areas (73%) registered in the National Register of Conservation Units, whether they are under administration of municipalities, states or the Union.

According to this diagnosis of the public use of the parks, 58% of the units do not have a support structure for visitation or this structure is precarious and does not meet basic needs. Even among parks where there is a support structure, 29% of managers consider maintenance inadequate.

“The minimum structure for the parks to become viable is to offer bathrooms, drinking fountains and trails where people can walk”, explains Mariana Haddad, knowledge coordinator at Instituto Semeia and responsible for carrying out the research.

The lack of restrooms is a problem in 46% of the parks and the absence of drinking fountains affects 56% of them. Among the minimum infrastructure items considered, trails have greater availability. They are present in 84% of the units.

“What we looked for with the research was to map the minimum structure, without which the park will not attract public”, comments Haddad.

“At the other end, a structure that goes beyond the basics would offer food, visitor centers, guides, some kind of monitoring and even activities related to adventure tourism, such as zip lines and equipment of this type.”

There are no visitor centers in 56% of the assessed parks.

The economic development generated by tourism in natural parks is an important tool for engaging the surrounding community in the conservation of these areas, according to the Semeia researcher.

“We believe in this virtuous cycle. The visitation generates a chain of services and income and, from this, regional economic agents are able to understand the importance of conservation”, he says.

In a study released in 2021, Semeia pointed out that the tourist use of natural parks could attract 56 million visitors per year —against 15 million visitors registered in state and federal units in 2019—, adding R$ 44 billion to GDP (Internal Product Gross) of the country.

She points out as one of the most emblematic examples of this relationship between conservation and economic development the Iguaçu National Park, a federal conservation unit that houses the Iguaçu River falls.

On the other hand, says Haddad, the country is wasting opportunities by not encouraging visitors to parks in the Northeast region.

“We are losing a lot by not taking advantage of the parks in the Northeast, which are close to each other and could form a circuit”, he commented.

For those who work on a daily basis in these conservation units, in general, there is a lack of people and money to make these attractions suitable for the needs of the public. The majority (62%) believe that they do not have human and financial resources available to carry out their activities.

The survey has been carried out by Instituto Semeia since 2012 and has been carried out every two years since 2019.

The sample comprises Brazilian natural parks registered in the national register in the 2nd half of 2021. This edition had the participation of 73% of these parks. The data collection period was from June 20, 2022 to September 29, 2022.

Created in 2011, Instituto Semeia is a non-profit civil society organization that operates nationally in the development of management models and public and private projects in the conservation of public parks.