Pointed as one of the main differences of Brazil in relation to the other international tourist destinations, the conservation units registered a jump of 20% in the number of visitors in 2017 in comparison with the previous year. According to data presented first hand by the president of ICMBio, Ricardo Soavinski, 10.73 million people visited natural attractions under the management of the institute.

“We have enormous potential to develop in this area. We are considered the world’s number one natural attraction and we need to better explore this differential in a sustainable way, “said Tourism Minister, Marx Beltrão. According to the study of competitiveness in tourism of the World Economic Forum, among 136 countries evaluated, Brazil occupies the first place in the category of natural attractiveness.

“We need to understand that in order to develop tourism in conservation units, we must first create conditions for tourists to reach them through roads and airports, but we do not always have that infrastructure,” said Ricardo Soavinski. The president of ICMBio has maintained that the entity has strengthened and the creation of a fund with resources of environmental compensations created by Provisional Measure will help in the structuring and opening of the parks. Currently, ICMBio studies the feasibility of public service concessions in 18 national parks.

For Pedro Passos, chairman of Natura’s Board of Directors and founder of Semeia, despite having registered an increase in visits by conservation units, Brazil needs to make much more progress. “As we now pass the 10 million visitors, the US records more than 300 million,” commented Pedro Passos.

Eduardo Pegurier, editor of the third-sector entity and founder of Wikiparques, also drew a parallel between national and US parks. “Even if we factor in the distortions of the exchange rate and the size of the population, we will realize that our national parks are far below potential for visitation,” he said. He emphasized that the visitation helps, even, in the preservation of the species. “Areas of visitation are minimal compared to the total size of the parks and the billing helps in the development of research and preservation of the fauna and flora,” he commented.

Also participating in the panel on the sustainable development of tourism in the parks, the president of Grupo Cataratas do Iguaçu SA, Bruno Marques, and the founder of the transcarioca, Pedro Cunha Menezes. The panel was part of the event More Tourism, More Employment and Income promoted by the newspaper O Globo, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism.

By Darse Junior

Photo: R.M. Nunes / Shutterstock