Analysis of the volunteer profile for the ecotourism management of the Transcarioca Trail in the city of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Trails serve as a link between people and nature. They also serve as vectors of various environmental imbalances, such as introduction and propagation of exotic plant species, trampling on vegetation, exposure, compaction and soil erosion. The compaction has unfolding, since it affects the development of roots, of vegetation, interferes in the rates of water infiltration, besides favoring erosive processes. When such phenomena intensify, they become a serious managerial problem for the administrators of protected areas in Brazil. The objective of the present study is to understand the role of volunteering in the management of the Transcarioca Trail, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the possible changes in the local ecosystem. The challenge of maintaining the Transcarioca Trail is to make its public an active player in its conservation and maintenance, supporting the structuring and management work. Based on studies on consultant councils, managers and their relationship with social agents (governmental and privates initiatives), discussions were also made on environmental and territorial impacts (both positive and negative) to ensure that public use occurs without compromising the integrity of the site's biodiversity. For the feasibility of the study, the use of the qualitative research of the exploratory and descriptive type was chosen to make an inventory about the volunteer profile and to understand its role in the conservation of the Trail. The following research concentrated the study within a specific section of the Transcarioca Trail in the Tijuca National Park (Rio de Janeiro county) - Section 13 - Forest Gate x Cova da Onça. In order to obtain the data presented, there were collected information of the conservation actions based in fieldwork and interviews with the management of PNT, and was applied questionnaires with adopters, walkers and volunteers in the period established between the year 2016 to the first semester of 2018. In this way, the matrices of this work will serve to analyze several aspects that involve the public use of protected areas, not only sustainable tourism as economic aptitude, but also the ecosystem management and conservation of every ecological corridor, species fauna / flora, lectures, seminars, research, volunteering program and aspects of public safety in favor of the Transcarioca Trail.