Online and Offline Representations of Biocultural Diversity: A Political Ecology Perspective on Nature-Based Tourism and Indigenous Communities in the Brazilian Pantanal

Koen Arts, Maiara Thaisa Oliveira Rabelo, Daniela Maimoni De Figueiredo, Georgina Maffey, Antonio Augusto Rossotto Ioris and Pierre Girard
Additional contact information
Koen Arts: Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
Maiara Thaisa Oliveira Rabelo: Postgraduate Program in Water Research, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá 78060-900, Brazil
Daniela Maimoni De Figueiredo: Postgraduate Program in Water Research, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá 78060-900, Brazil
Georgina Maffey: Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE), Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
Antonio Augusto Rossotto Ioris: School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3WA, UK
Pierre Girard: Pantanal Research Centre, Cuiabá 78.068-360, Brazil

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: The concept of biocultural diversity is confronted with contemporary changes that impact on local communities, such as globalization and digital transformations. Engaging the conceptual flexibility of ‘biocultural diversity’, we studied nature-based tourism at the intersection of indigenous communities and the digital realm. We employed a political ecology perspective to examine online and offline representations of biocultural diversity in the Brazilian Pantanal, one of the biggest wetlands in the world, and home to groups of peoples known as the Pantaneiros. Data from interviews with 48 stakeholders in the tourist sector were structured along three ‘myths’—the Uncivilised, Unrestrained, and Unchanged—for which we have also constructed counter narratives. Each myth denoted the primacy of biodiversity, and ignored broader dimensions of the Pantanal as a bioculturally diverse landscape. The relationships of the Pantaneiros with their environment were found to be intricate and had clear repercussions for tourism, but ironically, reference to the Pantaneiro culture in nature-based tourism was superficial. Moreover, thriving on the myths, this form of tourism perpetuates skewed power structures and social inequalities. Lower-class Pantaneiros likely suffer most from this. We recommend stakeholder engagement with a biocultural design that facilitates the integration of other-than-biodiversity values, and that thereby promotes sustainability of the entire social-ecological system.

Keywords: counter-colonial discourse; digital conservation; ecotourism; human–wildlife interaction; jaguar ( Panthera onca ); myth and counter narrative; Pantaneiro; primacy of biodiversity; social-ecological system; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3643/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3643/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3643-:d:174992

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().