THE CHALLENGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN BENEFICIARY COMMUNITIES OF THE CANAVIEIRAS MARINE EXTRACTIVE RESERVE, BAHIA, BRAZIL

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the environmental sustainability of communities in the Marine Extractive Reserve of Canavieiras, State of Bahia, Brazil. To make the research viable, primary data were collected from 262 families in 11 beneficiary communities of the RESEX of Canavieiras, in 2019, through a semi-structured form, containing social, economic and natural resource issues. The collected data were compiled into sustainability indicators, based on the generation of indices and subindices, on a scale of 0 to 4, in which the closer to 0 the worse the sustainability and the closer to 4 the better the sustainability. The results showed that the Resex de Canavieiras has proved to be a potential instrument to conserve natural environments and the means of survival of its beneficiaries. However, the indices and subindices showed that the communities were between low and medium environmental sustainability, with the economic dimension being the most fragile. The geographic factor direct access to the Municipal Headquarters and other cities by road or avenue, were more significant factors for obtaining certain social and economic infrastructures, and for the development of certain communities, than direct access to the sea and the mangrove together, as they allow more specialized flows.