Medidas para o desenvolvimento de um turismo sustentável no distrito de Lavras Novas, Ouro Preto-MG

Abstract

The lack of touristic planning in the Lavras Novas District, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is contributing to the cause of various environmental problems, and among them some as follows: degradation of trails and removal native species; inadequate disposal of solid residues in the streets and trails; cultural deprivement of characteristics subduing singular cultural manifestations such as bamboo handicraft; and the exclusion of the community from the touristic development process. These four critical called for the application of urgent measures for the touristic organization in Lavras Novas, involving three subprojects as follows: revitalization of the bamboo handicraft; reformation and implantation of interpretative trails; and waste facilities. In essence, the viabilization of these measures represents the central objective of this work, both in the form of recommendations or actions. The Participative Intervention Methodology (MIP) enabled the access of the community to the decision making process, for the exchange of experiences and the consensual construction of the recommendations and actions needed. The recommendations included the reformation of trails, with the plantation of native Leguminosae and grasses, and the elaboration of the "Ecologic and Hystoric and Cultural Interpretative Plan of Lavras Novas". In the same way, the establishment of a selective collection of waste and of a permanent association for the environmental awareness, within the "Waste Vigilants" Project, should necessarily involve elements of the local culture, such as the theater and the music. Furthermore, actions were set up by workshops. One of them was planned and done by the local craftsmen themselves, with the aid of the technical team, to teach the bamboo basket and mat handicraft to the youngsters of the community, including the discussion about techniques of natural dyeing and re-use of residues. The feasibility of founding the Handicraft Association of Lavras Novas was discussed to strenghten social status and the organization of the activities that presenthy are dispessed. The other workshop, that was an experimental bamboo planting, was organized and done for the artisans by a specialized professor. Thus, the bamboo cuttings were planted within the district itself, in an At Random Plots Design, with five treatments and four repetitions, in two areas (with and without shade), to determine the best treatment(s) for the reposition of the raw material and for the reclamation of degraded slopes. The treatment 1 (rhizome and part of the stem) was the best one. The treatment 2 (piece of the stem with one internode planted in the horizontal) will be further researched in another study. The use of shade could be determinant for the rooting, because there was a greater percentage of new roots in area 1. In general terms, the main conclusion of the work was the confirmation of the feasibility of the so called "Social Technology" for actions developed in the community of Lavras Novas, as the acquaitance of its people being recognized and valued.