The service concession agenda in protected areas in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

In the last decade, the importance of the debate on the implantation of public-private partnership for the management of protected areas has been rising in Brazil. In this context, the Pub. L. 16.260/16 was published in state of São Paulo, entitling the State Treasury to grant the exploration of services and the use of areas in 25 state protected areas, which house important forest remnants and numerous traditional communities. Its approval process has been troubled since its first drafting as Bill 249/13, with numerous questions raised by various sectors of society. This study analyzed the formulative process of the agenda of service concession in protected areas in the state of São Paulo, which culminated in the publication of Pub. L.16.260/16. The theoretical framework used was Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework (2003) and the data were obtained through documentary research, bibliographic research and semi-structured interviews with the main actors involved in the process. The results show that the agenda-setting process was motivated by a crisis in the management of protected areas, but the choice of service concessions as a solution to this problem was influenced by actors and the favorable political environment.