Visitation and conservation at the Pedra Branca State Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

The Pedra Branca State Park is one of the largest urban forests in the world. In the midst of urban sprawl in the western zone of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, this conservation unit, which hosts the Atlantic Forest Biodiversity and historical sites, has aroused the visitors’ interest, especially because of the Pedra do Telégrafo view. This article aims to understand the main challenges for the Pedra Branca State Park management and discuss possible alternatives for the compatibility between visitation and conservation. For this, the qualitative research was chosen and, to establish the state of the art of the Pedra Branca State Park, it was executed a bibliographical research on different bases and a documentary survey in the environmental agency responsible for its management. We have found six articles from which two of them were published in a tourism journal and four of them indicated management alternatives for Pedra Branca State Park. It is concluded that scientific research plays an important role in the elaboration and revision of management plans.