Protected area managers and community members learn how to improve public use planning

Protected area managers and community members learn how to improve public use planning
Discussing public use opportunities and planning for Amazônia National Park. Photo:

The public use of Brazil’s National Parks and other Protected Areas requires planning to ensure natural heritage is conserved and visitors enjoy high quality experiences. To this end, PCAB supported a five-day intensive course in Itaituba, in southwest Pará state between in June for 15 ICMBIO staff and 5 community members. It was facilitated by ICMBio along with USAID, the U.S. Forest Service, the University of Montana and the U.S. National Park Service. The course involved learning the basic principles and concepts on public use planning, and applied these to Amazonia National Park, as a case study. Following the course, a smaller group met for three days to develop a roadmap for a public use planning process to be used together with their general management plan development.