Research and intervention trajectories in Biological Conservation: evaluating projects funded by National Environmental Fund / A trajetória da pesquisa e da intervenção em Biologia da Conservação: avaliação de projetos financiados pelo Fundo Nacional do Meio Ambiente

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

The research proposal is to evaluate the research and intervention projects funded by the National Environmental Fund, between 1990 and 2003. Usually, evaluation research concern is on changing socioeconomic projects, but here it is used to understand the research and intervention projects under environmental science. The empirical reference was restricted to the National Environmental Fund (NEF), an organization of the Ministry of Environment that has the implementation of the National Environmental Policy as its primary mission. The thematic area of this investigation was the Conservation Biology (CB), widely recognized as a crisis discipline, mainly established in the 1980 decade. Using evaluation research as general framework, the main objectives were : i) to verify the temporal development of the research and intervention orientation through the evaluation of 710 project objectives; ii) to verify the concepts applied to intervention and conservation as the interaction between them, through the evaluation of 118 project objectives of the sub-theme Sustainable Management of Fauna and Flora; iii) to verify the presence of the Conservation Biology Principles and the incorporation of the Principles for the Conservation of Wild Living Resources (considered an important framework for CB) and the inclusion of evaluation mechanisms through the evaluation of 30 spontaneous and inductive demands. It was observed a dominance of interventionist orientation, with only 19,2% of the projects with research and interventionist objectives. The relationship between concepts of research and intervention is weak, only observed between the concepts of ex situ conservation and infra-structure and between habitat conservation and habitat management. The majority of the projects are directed toward the maintenance of biodiversity, mainly motivated by intrinsic values for conservation. From the seven of the Principles for the Conservation of Wild Living Resources, only three were present in more than 50% of the projects, being those related to the recognizing the need for conservation, the interaction between natural and social sciences and the need for communication. In only one project it was verified the existence of mechanisms for project evaluation. These results highlighted that many conservationist interventions are not being based on the scientific knowledge, which could result in simplistic actions toward conservative ends. Besides, it should be considered that in Conservation Biology it is essential a close relationship between natural and social sciences. Many unresolved practical problems might be attended whether interrelation between biological and social questions could be faced within this interdisciplinary context. The researcher training tradition could also explain the emphasis on the biodiversity maintenance, in spite of Biological integrity and ecosystem heath. The low frequency of the Principles for the Conservation of Wild Living Resources also portraits the existence of few works in natural resource sustainable use, which demands the involvement of political and social questions, reinforcing the need for a open-minded education of the conservationists. The lack of evaluation mechanisms turns difficult to know what is effective in conservation terms, increasing the uncertainty about this practice and compromising the decision making process.

ASSUNTO(S)

fundo nacional do meio ambiente biological conservation research diversidade biológica biologia de conservação pesquisa ciencias sociais aplicadas national environmental fund biological diversity

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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