Traditional Knowledge on the use of Turtles in a Protected Area of the Amazon in Maranhão (Brazil): A Conservation Proposal

Abstract The use of turtles for food or breeding is a traditional practice in the Baixada Maranhense Environmental Protection Area (EPA), which is composed of wetlands of high conservation value. However, species such as Kinosternon scorpioides, a semi-aquatic Amazon turtle, are threatened by direct harvesting and habitat loss. Local knowledge of biodiversity has been used to understand these practices and to control these problems as a theoretical basis in research on the use and management of natural resources and conservation. This work aimed to analyze the traditional knowledge of riverside communities on the biology, habitat, capture methods, forms of use, and conservation of turtles in the Baixada Maranhense. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with inhabitants of riverside communities. Based on our results, turtle species are commonly caught in fishing activities (54.71 percent of the interviewees) or by burning (32.35 percent), a practice with great environmental impacts. 41.77 percent of respondents capture these animals for consumption and prefer the K scorpioides, which also has cultural and medicinal importance for the riverside communities. 89 percent of the interviewees report no knowledge of either the structure and function of an EPA or how resource management works, compromising the sustainability principles and operation of this Conservation Unit (C.U.). It is concluded that capture of turtles is one of the reasons for the decrease in natural stocks of K scorpioides. Strategies for management and conservation of the Baixada Maranhense EPA resources are proposed.