Perfil e percepção ambiental dos visitantes do flutuante dos botos, Parque Nacional de Anavilhanas, Novo Airão – AM

Abstract

No Flutuante dos Botos, situado no Parque Nacional de Anavilhanas, município de Novo Airão-AM, desenvolve-se o turismo interativo com o boto-vermelho (Inia geoffrensis). As interações com os botos iniciaram em 1998 e, desde então, o empreendimento passou a ser o principal ponto turístico da cidade. Neste trabalho é apresentado o perfil e a percepção ambiental de 119 visitantes do Flutuante dos Botos. Conclui-se que o turismo interativo com os cetáceos no Parque Nacional de Anavilhanas é positivo tanto no âmbito econômico-social do município de Novo Airão, pois promove direta e indiretamente a geração de renda, quanto no âmbito ambiental, já que o modelo de turismo implementado é visto pelos visitantes como uma ferramenta que contribui para a conservação dos botos.

Challenges and Advances in the Planning of Tourism with Amazon River Dolphins in the Brazilian Amazon

“…Tourist interaction with Amazon River dolphins began in the Amazon in 1998 at the Anavilhanas National Park [35], located in the city of Novo Airão, Lower Negro River, in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. The city is located on the right bank of the Negro River, a 183 km drive from the state's capital, Manaus.…”

“…Human interactions with the Amazon River dolphin at Novo Airão started by accident, when a child started offering fish to a dolphin that was roaming around the surroundings of a houseboat restaurant anchored in the south-central region of Anavilhanas National Park, right in front of the major urban beach of the city of Novo Airão [35,39]. As time went by, other Amazon River dolphins were attracted by the food and the child started swimming with the animals, which caught the eye of people visiting the city, who in turn started to buy portions of fish in the restaurant to feed the dolphins too [32].…”

“…Since then, interactive tourism between people and Amazon River dolphins in Novo Airão, based on the feeding of the cetaceans, has become well known among Brazilian and foreign tourists. Thus, the activity has become a major tourist attraction in both the city and Anavilhanas National Park [35,40].…”

“…However, several studies [13,24,35,37] suggest that the replicability of the experience in Anavilhanas occurred without the establishment of any standards and monitoring of tourist practices, that involve the swimming and artificial feeding of Amazon River dolphins, in turn leading to negative consequences for those involved, such as a high number of tourists interacting with a handful of animals; tourists swimming with the dolphins and trying to hold them by force; the offering of objects and food products that were not part of the animal's natural diet, such as chips, beer, sausages and bread; tourists accidentally bitten or otherwise harmed by the animals during artificial feeding activities; fish sold to tourists and offered to dolphins while still frozen and poorly handled, from a hygienic standpoint; absolutely no control of the quantity of fish given to each dolphin daily (Figure 2).…”

Avaliação dos atrativos turísticos do Parque Nacional de Anavilhanas (AM)

“…Pesquisas realizadas no Parque Nacional de Anavilhanas, relacionadas ao perfil dos visitantes, apontaram que os brasileiros são os principais visitantes do Parque, sendo a maioria do próprio estado do Amazonas. Esse fato pode ser atribuído, em parte, ao menor custo e tempo de deslocamento por visitantes que moram em cidades próximas, como Manaus, Manacapuru e Iranduba, todas situadas em um raio de até 200 km por via terrestre do Parque (VIDAL et al, 2013). É importante observar que a maioria dos visitantes faz parte do que se considera turismo doméstico.…”