Environmental Management in Leisure and Tourism Spaces: The Urban Beaches of the Brazilian Amazon

This paper analyzes the public and private actions in response to environmental problems on the beaches of Mosqueiro Island, Para, coastal urban area. The objective was to identify environmental problems in the perception of residents and tourists as well as analyze the actions and instruments environmental management. The survey data were analyzed according to the model Pressure-State-Impact-Response (PEIR), which shows the environmental pressures of human actions, as these affect the quality of natural resources, environmental impacts and actions in response to changes. These issues were examined in the light of neo-institutionalist theories that take into account the institutional context and the relevant political actors. It was found that the main environmental pressure refers to the disordered population density, which generated the intensification of exploitation of vulnerable areas for human occupation and impacted on available natural resources. As for government responses, it was identified low level of correspondence between PEIR, reflecting the relatively weak institutional capacity in the execution of environmental sustainability.