Citizenship and Responsibility in Preservation Units: The ‘Parque do Ingá’ In Maringá Pr Brazil

Abstract

Maringá is known as “The Green City” due to the extensive green areas within the city’s perimeter which were preserved to show to future generations the region’s flora and fauna and as a warrant against urban pollution. However, during the last decades this landscape has been destroyed and almost nothing has been done to preserve or recover these areas. The ‘Parque do Ingá’ is a registered State Conservation Unit, an important preservation area in the region and, in the recent past, provided leisure for the local and regional population. Currently almost abandoned by the authorities, it exhibits several erosion degrees, pollution and deforestation, due to bad administration, disordered city growth and the influence of impermeable soil. Current essay analyzes the environmental status of the ‘Parque do Ingá’ with special emphasis on the inspection of government activities and to reinforce the concept that it is the citizens’ duty to preserve the environment. The literature on the subject has been reviewed and information was requested from the Department of the Environment and Agriculture of the municipality of Maringá with regard to investments spent on the ‘Parque do Ingá’ in the 2005-2007 period. Results show that the current conditions of the ‘Parque do Ingá’ belie “The Green City” title so proudly exhibited by the city of Maringá. The indifference of government departments with regard to the protection and conservation and a certain lack of interest of the population are the main causes for the pitiful conditions current in the ‘Parque do Ingá’.