Overview

The Brazilian coastal zone has a high diversity and intensity of human uses. Tourism has emerged as an increasingly important activity of the coast of Florianópolis (capital of Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil) being the third most important economic activity in the city. The Pirajubaé Marine Extractive Reserve (PMER) was created in 1992 (Presidential Decree No. 533), with the main goal of ensuring the livelihood of the traditional fishing community. Fishers take tourists on board to show them the area and serve them lunch from their catch. The Reserve is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) consisting of 1,712,08 hectares, including some terrestrial portions and a total of 260 fishermen.

With the fluctuation of the fishing activity, the introduction of community-based tourism in the PMER represents an alternative for fishermen, maintaining the sustainability goals of the MPA. The multi-use approach is a valuable strategy to promote the existing roles in the fishing and tourism activities, while simultaneously increasing the visibility of fishing communities in their society.

The focus of this case study was to understand the opportunities and challenges of a community-based tourism expansion in the PMER. The exchanges across the participating institutions and partners provided a better conception of the existing opportunities to strengthen the PMER coastal community, their livelihood, and marine resource sustainability. This approach could address other demands in marine protected areas and could be replicated throughout the Brazilian coastal zone.