Caiçaras and the Jureia-Itatins Mosaic of Conservation Units: challenges for management Rosely Alvim Sanches

Abstract

The Jureia-Itatins Mosaic of Conservation Units (MUCJI) is the first mosaic of protected areas of the Atlantic Forest created in São Paulo. Its legal origin dates back to the change in the limits and reclassification of the Jureia-Itatins Ecological Station (EEJI). This change had as its prerogative the admission, by public authorities and pressure from civil society, of the coexistence between biological and cultural diversity and, also, of the types of use and occupation existing in the region. During the process of creating and implementing the EEJI and the institution of the MUCJI, there was a fierce debate between local communities, scientists, social leaders and technicians from the state government, which generated contradictory positions around the conservation of the Atlantic Forest and the so-called traditional populations that inhabit its interior. This article shows that the new legal framework - the mosaic - as a solution to the balance between socio-environmental issues and conservation objectives - is a necessary institution, but it did not resolve this debate. It is necessary to recognize the intrinsic value of protected biodiversity and the collective construction of principles for environmental ethics in the management of the mosaic.