Cultural Landscape in Brazil: Legal Instruments and the Challenges of Protection

The contemporary experience of protection of cultural landscapes in Brazil points to an innovative path within the cultural heritage preservation policies. It is no mere reproduction and application of the category introduced by UNESCO, in 1992, under the World Heritage List. On the contrary, the studies and actions that have been developed, in addition to the legal basis that was established in 2009, point to a conception of public policy that encourages citizen participation and that focuses, preferably, on seeking to foster social development, ensuring the permanence of social groups in their localities, through the valorization of culture and heritage conceived in an integrative manner, integrating nature, buildings, archaeological records, and intangible manifestations. In this sense, this article aims to present the history of the institution of the legal protection instruments for this category of heritage-the cultural landscape-, as well as present an overview of the actions undertaken so far and, mainly, discuss the concept, the limits, and the challenges currently posed by recent changes in institutional policy.