DEFINING PRIORITY ZONES FOR CONSERVATION AND ECOTOURISM IN A PROTECTED AREA

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the objective of promoting nature conservation, this study proposes an environmental zoning for a protected area that contains part of the remaining Atlantic Forest, a global hotspot that is home to several endangered species of flora and fauna. Conflicting therewith, the protected area is an important tourist attraction in the region and receives many visitors throughout the year. For the zoning preparation, the main factors and constraints of each objective (ecotourism and conservation) are established, and a multi-criteria analysis is used, in addition to the MOLA (Multi-Objective Land Allocation) algorithm, to establish the most suitable areas for each use. Extreme protection areas are defined through the intersection of endemic vegetation and soils and altitudes above 1,500 m. Thus, a fraction of 18% is obtained for extreme protection, 59% for conservation, and 23% for areas destined for ecotourism development. The results demonstrate the advantages of using these methods, due to their simplicity, which can support administrators in planning the protected area. The zoning is in accordance with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recommendation because the conservation area corresponds to approximately 77% of the park area, reinforcing the suitability and applicability of the methodology that is used for the zoning of a protected area.