Conhecimento ecológico tradicional no fragmento da planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná: percepção ecológica dos pescadores

Abstract

The ecological knowledge is an empiric popular wisdom stored by the fishermen's natural environmental practice. Changes in ecosystem affect the explored natural resources as well as the traditional practice dependent on them. This paper aims at presenting the upper Paraná river floodplain fishermen's traditional ecological knowledge from Porto Rico (PR) and Porto São José (PR) regions. A brief comment on fragmentation theory is presented because of the floodplain fragmentation imposed by the construction of hydroelectric dams. Three phrases and one proverb, which reveal the dynamics of the fishermen's ecological process, were registered and confronted with the scientific knowledge of the region. The phrases show a popular and traditional interpretation in agreement with the upper Paraná river floodplain scientific discoveries. The ecosystem fragmentation and loss of tradition, due to the fishery practice abandon endanger that popular wisdom.