Birdwatching tourism at PN Lagoa do Peixe: opportunities or threats?

• Autor(a) principal: Kaiser, Silvia Maria
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Goncalves, Joao Manuel dos Anjos, Perelló, Luís Fernando Carvalho
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Ecoturismo
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unifesp.br/index.php/ecoturismo/article/view/11994
• topic: Birdwatching; National Park; Birdwatching; Ecotourism; Protected Areas.; Observação de aves; Parque Nacional; Birdwatching; Ecoturismo; Áreas Protegidas.

Birdwatchers can integrate an important market niche within the scope of ecotourism, collaborating to the economic contribution and environmental awareness. Birdwatching has become a segment of nature tourism, constituting a specialized market. In Brazil, birdwatching attracts tourists to more than 50 destinations. Today there are around 37 thousand birdwatchers in Brazil and the activity has grown exponentially. It is estimated that in the last ten years there has been an increase of 1,650% in this number and most of the observers are linked to the collaborative platform WikiAves. Brazil is one of the most important destinations for those who want to practice birdwatching. In this study, it was investigated whether birdwatchers have a socioeconomic profile capable of leveraging an ecotourism chain on the middle coast of Rio Grande do Sul, where the Lagoa do Peixe National Park is located. The survey verified the economic weight that birdwatching tourism may have in the region. Also listed were the deficiencies that birdwatchers pointed out in the local tourist structure and what they suggest to improve it. It was determined whether there are more harassed species and the tools used in observation, such as playback. The researched sample demonstrated that the birdwatchers that frequent the region are mostly professionally established people, with a stable financial situation and real consumption capacity. They show concern for the sustainability of the activity and suggest the creation of regulations to normatize the activity in the region. The work concluded that the category is able to help in the implantation of a local tourist chain.