O papel dos aquários públicos no antropoceno: uma avaliação da "estratégia global dos aquários para conservação e sustentabilidade"

Abstract

The present thesis addresses the role of public aquariums in the building of environmental awareness in the Anthropocene. Over the past century, industrial production and consumption have escalated, interfering in critical ecological processes worldwide. Four of the nine planetary limits have already been exceeded. Two of these limits, climate change and biosphere integrity, are considered vital: overstepping them jeopardizes the natural stability and resilience of ecosystems. In an era when ecosystems are disrupted by anthropic activity, public aquariums and zoos can help build the awareness required to mitigate local and global environmental problems. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) published four manuals between 1993 and 2015 containing strategies of conservation and sustainability which have since been adopted by aquariums and zoos worldwide. To evaluate to what extent Brazilian public aquariums adhere to WAZA guidelines, we studied a sample of 10 aquariums in different regions of the country: 3 in the Northeast (Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba and Sergipe) and 7 in the Southeast (São Paulo), administering questionnaires to staff and managers. Adherence to WAZA guidelines was found to be partial but, overall, the aquariums in our sample displayed commitment to the increasingly relevant role of their institutions in environmental education, research and biodiversity conservation. Our results allowed us to design a proposal for an environmental education program for Acquario Ceará.