The (inter)laces with the land, the home and the place: topophilia and environmental perception of a rural community of Bahia

Abstract:

With the increasing concern with environmental issues, environmental perception aims to understand the relationship between human beings and nature and which conditions direct their behavior and attitudes toward the environment. Thus, the objective of this work was to understand the environmental perception of the rural community of Barrocão (Uruçuca, BA) residents, identifying the topophilic relationship established among the residents with the place. The study is a qualitative research, in which the method of collection was the use of semi-structured interviews with the residents, starting from a script developed according to the methodological guidelines of environmental perception of Whyte (1977). We conducted the interviews with 13 residents of the community association Sweets and Forest Secrets (Doces e Segredos da Floresta). The results revealed that the residents get an affective bond with the place they live, being satisfied to live in the community and indicating external factors as problematic. We verified that the sense of community goes beyond the established geographical delimitations, being strengthened by shared collective feelings.

Keywords:
topophilia; environmental perception; rural community