Perception of ecosystem services by family farmers in Ubatuba – SP

• Autor(a) principal: Kadry, Vívian Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Piña-Rodrigues, Fatima Márquez, Piratelli, Augusto João
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biotemas (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/biotemas/article/view/2175-7925.2017v30n4p101

The perception of ecosystem services can be used as a tool for the establishment of ecosystem conservation actions, especially in areas of Atlantic forest such as Ubatuba – SP, where communities use the services generated by nature. This study evaluated the perception of ecosystem services of 20 family farmers that practice ecologically-based farming in Ubatuba. Semi-structured interviews were used to identify which services were perceived by the farmers. The responses were classified according to the functions of regulation, habitat, production and information and used to calculate the Ecosystem Perception Consolidation Index (ICPE). In general, there was low perception of the ecosystem services, and regulation and information functions received higher ICPE scores. There was dissociation of the relationships between forest and agricultural production because the services generated by the habitat function were perceived only by 30% of the farmers. These results highlight the need to incorporate integrated technical assistance linking extension and conservation agencies, which should consider farmers as protagonists of any process for potential implementation. In this way, it is possible to protect the local culture and traditional knowledge while preserving the Atlantic forest.