Traditional peoples as regulatory agents of federal protected areas in Brazil
1. Protected areas; 2. Traditional peoples and territories; 3. Social participation; 4. Internormativity; 5. Coregulation.
The integration of the voices and knowledge of traditional peoples in the regulation of protected areas is essential to overcome the limitations of contemporary environmental law and address the complex challenges involving the relationship between nature and humans. The traditional process of legal norm production, historically centralized in the State, has proven insufficient, creating space for the participation of new actors in the construction of normativities. Based on this premise, this research aimed to investigate the level of participation of traditional peoples in the production of norms and the construction of legal interpretations related to federal protected areas in Brazil. By analyzing three legal management instruments – management plans, terms of commitment, and real use right concession contracts – and emblematic conflict situations, the research demonstrates that traditional peoples participate in the regulation of protected areas in Brazil, playing a fundamental role in the creation of new normativities, which could serve as a reference for the development of a more inclusive environmental law. The research also addresses the role of these peoples as agents of private regulation in practices such as community-based tourism and integrated fire management,