Comunidades ribeirinhas no processo de consolidação fundiária do Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Metrópole da Amazônia-PA

Abstract

The Paraense Amazon region is mentioned in different moments of global history, among which the ones related to the economic processes that connect Brazil to the world markets. In this context, the period of rubber extraction is responsible for profound changes in the state of Pará, especially in the Metropolitan Region of Belém (RMB). To meet the advancement of this market, large companies began to explore the syringe trees from the tidy planting. As an example, the company Pirelli S/A settled in an area that covers four municipalities of the RMB and established its activities from the local workforce. In turn, these workers and their families had resided in the area since ancient times. With the bankruptcy of this company and after conflicting moments between this and the families employed, the area passes to the power of the government of the state of Pará that turns it into a Conservation Unit (UC) of integral protection whose Management Plan (better known as Management Plan) was elaborated only ten years after its creation (IDEFLOR-BIO, 2018a). The elaboration of this plan has marked a new stage in the life of these riverine families of Ponta Negra and Santo Amaro. This research brings reflections on the historical constitution of the current integral protection unit, which is intertwined with the presence of families of riverine populations, whose general objective is to analyze how the territoriality of the riverside communities of the Wildlife Refuge can influence land regularization actions and/or recognition of public power in the construction of legal instruments. To that end, methodologies related to Oral Thematic History (BOM MEIHY, 1996) were used, which allowed to understand some of the mechanisms that led the Managing Body of the UC (IDEFLOR-Bio) to allow these communities to maintain their residences in the area, with the right to use of the forest for their livelihoods, something unusual in a UC of Integral Protection. Documentary and bibliographical research were used, combined with interviews with the different groups involved in the process of consolidating the presence of families within the UC. From the information obtained, it was possible to perceive that the resistance of the riverside communities to maintain their residences contributed to an initial recognition process, which, however, still needs to be deepened with more permanent guarantees of housing and maintenance of their traditional way of life.