TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES OF GUARAQUEÇABA-PR: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Abstract

Environmental justice constitutes a fundamental analytical field for understanding the processes of socio-environmental inequality that affect traditional communities, especially in regions like Guaraqueçaba, Paraná, where environmental conservation interests coexist with demands for cultural and territorial recognition. From a legal and sociological perspective, this study analyzes the interface between Brazilian environmental legislation, public policies, and the fundamental rights of these communities. The research was based on a literature review of leading authors, articulating the concepts of environmental ethnolaw, territory, and participatory governance in a multidisciplinary approach, from a legal perspective. The aim was to promote a critical reflection on the state's responsibility in formulating and implementing public policies aimed at promoting dignified human conditions and overcoming socio-environmental inequalities. The results highlight the urgent need for adjustments in government action, which must establish objectives aimed at combating violations of community rights, valuing their ways of life, ensuring the preservation of
their cultures, and promoting programs and actions aimed at improving sustainable development. The results demonstrate that regulatory and restrictive processes imposed by the State often disregard the historical, cultural, and social particularities
of these communities, which not only generates socio-environmental conflicts but also compromises the effectiveness of environmental protection measures due to the lack of alignment on issues important for environmental protection. Therefore, it is
concluded that recognizing the right to collective property, as well as protecting sustainable development, is essential as a condition for ensuring effective environmental protection that encompasses, in an integrated manner, economic, social, and cultural interests.