The nature photography as a tool for the conservation and dissemination of Conservation Units in the Baixada Fluminense
Biogeography, Environmental Perception, Citizen Science, Geophotography, Educommunication
The research encompasses five Conservation Units belonging to the Baixada Fluminense region, specifically to the municipalities of Seropédica, Queimados, Nova Iguaçu and Mesquita, in addition to part of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The CUs are: Mário Xavier National Forest, APA Horto Municipal Luiz Gonzaga de Macedo, Mendanha State Park, Gericinó-Mendanha APA and Nova Iguaçu Municipal Natural Park. The protected areas of the Baixada Fluminense suffer from many stereotypes and end up being made invisible, even though they are part of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. By re-signifying the looks, the scenario can change and finally these spaces are valued by the population, both for the ecosystem services provided, as well as for their conservation and for harboring an immense biodiversity. In the sense of transmuting, photography has gained more and more visibility and importance, mainly due to the power of uniting individual feelings lived in an experience. With regard to the objective of the work, the purpose is to explore photography as a tool for the conservation and scientific dissemination of these spaces, as well as a possible art to bring the connection between society, public power and the academic community. The work was initially elaborated with the bibliographic survey within the concepts of landscape, photography, conservation, citizen science and environmental perception. The methodology is based on qualitative methods of citizen science, with the creation of a photographic contest based on action research, concomitantly with field work in the respective CUs, in order to photograph the nature of these places. With the photographs taken by the author of this research and with the combination of photographs already taken by the population, a virtual exhibition will be organized, with subsequent application of a questionnaire to visitors to better understand their socio-environmental perceptions from the use of photography. The present work is justified by the need for greater connections in the relationship between society and nature within the Baixada Fluminense. It is expected that from the use of photography in the research, there will be changes in the way these spaces are seen, resulting in greater dissemination and with that more visits and incentives in favor of conservation, contributing to the perception and environmental sensitivity of visitors, the in order to increase the connection between protected areas and society through citizen science.