The construction of the (human) heritage in conservations units in the São Paulo State: environmental memories, communities and authorized heritage discourse

Abstract

This research has two main objectives: 1) To produce a mapping of the changes in the environmental memories of the State Parks Carlos Botelho and Intervales, from the perspective of tangible and intangible heritage; and 2) to analyze the institutional discourses focused on the definition and management of tangible and intangible heritage in these environmental preservation areas of the State of São Paulo. We have observed in the national academic literature and in databases of the offices responsible for managing both the protected areas and the Tangible and Intangible Heritage Materials (whether in the international, Federal, State or Municipal sphere) a gap in relation to cross-check data between the heritage and these natural preservation areas. These "silencings" are not exclusive to our present time, but seem to last for a long period that has persisted in our cultural scene and, in particular, taking real effects in the everyday life of the different communities living in these protected areas. In this investigation, that emerges from the theoretical basis of Environmental History and from History and Public Archaeology, we aim to understand the construction of these discourses, both in the scope of heritage policies and that of policies regarding the management of Conservation Units of the State of São Paulo, as well as its consequences for the formation of our "environmental memories." Our case studies were chosen because they are configured as World Heritage Sites and because together they form a significant Atlantic Forest complex. Despite the exuberant natural beauty, the areas cluster communities facing serious social problems and their tangible or intangible heritage seems to go through an expressive silencing process; this will be mapped and shown through cartographic resources. We intend, therefore, to understand this heritage - Conservation Unit dyad, highlighting the local knowledges. (AU)