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| Associação Brasileira de Ecoturismo | |
|---|---|
| Name | Associação Brasileira de Ecoturismo |
Associação Brasileira de Ecoturismo is a Brazilian non-governmental organization focused on promoting ecotourism principles across Brazil through advocacy, capacity building, and standards development. It operates within networks that include national conservation entities and international organizations, engaging stakeholders from protected areas to private reserves. The association acts as a bridge among practitioners linked to major conservation initiatives in the Amazon Rainforest, the Atlantic Forest, and the Pantanal.
Founded in the late 20th century amid rising global attention to sustainable travel, the association emerged contemporaneously with movements represented by World Tourism Organization, IUCN, and regional actors such as Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis and SOS Mata Atlântica. Early collaborations involved projects near landmarks like Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Chapada Diamantina National Park, and Fernando de Noronha. Over successive decades it engaged with policy debates in forums alongside Ministério do Meio Ambiente (Brasil), Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, and civil society networks including Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente. Its history intersects with campaigns to protect corridors connecting Serra do Mar, Serra da Mantiqueira, and other priority landscapes recognized by Conservação Internacional and The Nature Conservancy.
The association’s mission aligns with objectives promoted by groups such as World Wide Fund for Nature, UNEP, and Convention on Biological Diversity: to reconcile nature conservation with community-based livelihoods through low-impact tourism. Specific goals mirror initiatives by Banco Mundial and Inter-American Development Bank to foster sustainable development in regions like the Cerrado and the Caatinga, while supporting enterprises similar to those endorsed by SEBRAE. It seeks to influence policy instruments in tandem with actors like ICMBio and regional secretariats to integrate tourism planning into landscape-scale conservation strategies championed by Panoramica do Turismo and international standards organizations.
Governance has typically followed models used by associations such as Greenpeace Brasil and WWF-Brasil, with an executive board, technical advisory committees, and regional coordinators operating across the North, Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central-West. Advisory panels have included representatives from institutions like Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Embrapa, and local cooperatives modeled after Associação de Proteção da Mata Atlântica. Funding and partnerships reflect patterns seen in Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade projects and grant programs administered by Fundação Grupo Boticário de Proteção à Natureza and international donors.
Programmatic work spans community-based tourism initiatives influenced by models from Responsible Travel and pilot programs in landscapes such as Ilha Grande, Pantanal Matogrossense, and the Serra da Bocaina. Projects include capacity-building workshops informed by curricula from SEBRAE, site monitoring aligned with methods used by ICMBio rangers, and biodiversity interpretation tools co-developed with museums and institutions like the Museu Nacional (Brazil), Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, and university research groups. The association has run campaigns to promote trail management, visitor carrying-capacity assessments similar to protocols used at Iguazú National Park, and visitor education modeled on programs from Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar.
Efforts to create certification schemes draw on frameworks established by Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Rainforest Alliance, and national ecolabel initiatives. Standards address criteria comparable to those in programs run by ISO technical committees, including requirements for environmental management, community benefit-sharing seen in projects supported by Natura, and visitor safety protocols analogous to those promoted by ABNT. The association has collaborated with accreditation partners and municipal tourism secretariats to pilot seals for lodges, guide training standards consistent with curricula from International Federation of Tour Operators and occupational standards recognized by regional tourism councils.
Partnerships encompass a broad array of institutions: conservation NGOs like The Nature Conservancy and WWF, research universities such as Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and Universidade Federal do Paraná, funding agencies including Banco do Brasil Foundation and IDB, and municipal bodies overseeing destinations like Gramado and Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul. International linkages include exchanges with UNWTO, Conservation International, and bilateral cooperation involving agencies like USAID and GIZ. The association participates in coalitions and platforms similar to Rede Brasileira de Turismo de Base Comunitária and regional networks that coordinate with transboundary initiatives like the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization.
Evaluations of outcomes reference methodologies used by World Bank environmental assessments and biodiversity monitoring approaches from IUCN and Conservação Internacional. Reported impacts include strengthened income diversification in communities around destinations such as Jalapão and Lençóis Maranhenses, enhanced protection of habitat corridors connecting Mata Atlântica fragments and improvements in visitor stewardship consistent with indicators promoted by Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Socioeconomic effects mirror findings from case studies supported by SEBRAE and Fundação Boticário, showing mixed results that depend on governance capacity, market access, and alignment with conservation policies overseen by bodies like ICMBio and state environmental agencies.
Category:Non-profit organizations based in Brazil Category:Ecotourism organizations