Etnoecologia da paisagem e histórico de manejo tradicional de Attalea speciosa Mart. ex Spreng na chapada do Araripe, Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

Management actions performed by the human population can be considered as one of the driving forces of changes in the landscape. From the perception of human populations is possible to access the transformations occurring in certain landscapes and the factors that led. Such studies would prove useful to trace the history of a landscape, recognizing their past and designing your future. In this article, we aim to see how the landscape of Attalea speciosa forest in the APA-Araripe has been modified over the years, considering how the local human population perceives the changes in length (expansion/reduction) of A. speciosa forest and possible historical events involved and associated causes. The study was conducted in the municipality of Barbalha-CE in APA-Araripe, Northeastern Brazil. To access the perception of local people, were selected the communities Macaúba, Boa Esperança, Barro Branco e Tabocas, who have a history of extractive activities with A. speciosa. In each community were selected, through the snowball technique, people involved in activities related to the extraction of A. speciosa. With selected people were applied the techniques of the timeline and history chart to verify, according to the perception of the people, the landscape changes occurred in the region over time. To complement these data, historical documents of the region were evaluated. The historical evidences allied to the information reported by people on the timeline show the influence of human activities modifying the landscape of A. speciosa forest over the years. According to local informants, areas previously used for growing plants and raising animals, after being abandoned or decimated by drought events in the area, may have promoted the establishment and expansion of A. speciosa forest. Furthermore, other forms of landscape management performed by people, resulting from human population growth, for example, may also have affected the past and present conformation of A. speciosa forest on site. In the history chart, the local representations of abundance of A. speciosa showed differences when compared between the studied communities. Thus, we see that the role of people as leaders of change in the landscape can be evidenced in the construction of the current conformation of A. speciosa forest in Araripe, this being a procedure recognized by the local human population.