Environment and poverty among non-traditional populations

Abstract

This article analyzes the village of Rio das Pedras, which is located around the Serra Itabaiana National Park in the state of Sergipe. The study was motivated by the need to get to know the population’s socio-environmental reality, which has been recently modified by the creation of a conservation unit. Thus it tries to give visibility to a social group that cannot be called traditional population, but is characterized by its social, economic and political vulnerability. The study was conducted through a combination of techniques to obtain quantitative and qualitative data, which included a literature review and field research. It indicates that, due to their lack of political and theoretical visibility, the nontraditional population groups directly involved in the creation of conservation units are having their living conditions further aggravated and are subjected to a new dynamics of social and political subordination.

Keywords: conservation units, non-traditional population groups, environmental conflicts, environmental justice.