Opinion – É Logo Ali: Avoid the perrengues and scares in nature tourism

Yes, we have already said here that hiking and hiking are a democratic environment. No, that doesn’t mean anything goes. Experts warn that some precautions are essential to avoid theft, such as that of the group guided by the messianic coach Pablo Marçal, who took a group to the top of the peak of the Marins in the middle of a storm, or the tragedy that befell tourists. who enjoyed the view of the canyon in the so-called Mar de Minas, in Capitólio (MG), killing ten people.

And no, again, they’re not the same problems – but both reflect a greater situation of lack of oversight, information and, well, some common sense.

For the executive director of Abeta (Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Companies), Luiz Del Vigna, one of the problems of the so-called nature tourism is the informality in all segments of the economy, which specifically puts lives at risk that could be spared.

“You have a significant increase in the number of people who are not qualified, unauthorized or formalized taking tours, whether it’s to talk to God, contemplate the landscape or earn money”, he points out. Today, Abeta estimates between 1,500 and 2,000 the total number of formal companies in activities related to nature. But the entity recognizes that the number of informal initiatives is much higher. Anyone thinks that half a dozen tours are enough to guide others. And this is where things get ugly.

“The fact is that we are talking about traveling through a natural environment, a conservation area, which has a regulation. And if the person is earning money from that, then that is a business, it is tourism, and you have to have a CNPJ, you have to follow the rules — and they exist,” he adds.

Among the rules, Del Vigna highlights federal laws such as the General Tourism Law and the Consumer Protection Code, which oblige nature tourism companies to adapt to Brazilian technical standards. It just doesn’t happen. “And there’s also no one to supervise”, he says.

The lode of activity, apparently, is large. The director of Abeta estimates that the demand for activities in nature has grown from 7% to 10% a year in recent years and, in a way that has not yet been accounted for, “but crazy”, in times of a pandemic.

Del Vigna also guarantees that it is not for lack of access to information on good practices that an agency or guide will not know what it can or cannot do. Only on the Abeta website, through quick registration, more than 20 detailed manuals are available to anyone, free of charge, that guide the various activities in nature, the precautions to be observed and the basic safety measures.

And if informality is high, the lack of user support infrastructure on the country’s trails is greater. “It would be nice to have more spaces with signage for trails, good information, and guidance, as in the parks of Itatiaia and Serra dos Órgãos”, says Rafael Leal, 29, one of the members of the group “Respect the mountain”, which circulated in the last days a manifesto criticizing the trip of the messianic group to the peak of the Marins and demanding observance of the rules of mountaineering.

“We think it’s absurd, for example, places like Pico dos Marins and Serra Fina, which attract so many people, not being parks, not having established and specific regulations that, for the practice of the sport, help a lot to avoid both environmental and accidents”, says Leal, a sociologist who has 8 years of experience in mountains.

A FEW TIPS FOR NOT GETTING COLD

Among other precautions that are listed for those who do not want to become bad news after an experience in nature, some are mandatory before packing the backpack:

1. Find out about the service provider. Ask for references, check if it’s formalized (any search engine shows the company’s CNPJ, it only takes a few seconds to type and find out what users have already said about it), look for reports from those who have used the service, preferably someone you know.

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   Ask the supplier for the risk acknowledgment term – there is no such thing as zero risk nature tourism. From simple slides to falling rocks and possible water heads, each region has its dose of potential perrengues. Ask for details on the level of technical difficulty (which will give you parameters to know if you can climb Aconcagua or, at most, climb Pico do Jaraguá).

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3. This risk detailing is required by the ABNT ISO 21.101 technical standard and is a consumer right. But, attention: term of knowledge of risk is not the same as term of disclaimer, very widespread out there. Always demand the first. The second only intends to save the face of the supplier in case something goes wrong for you.
   

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4. Depending on the profile of the project, give preference to those who offer an accident insurance option – many health plans do not guarantee service for what they call high-risk activities, this is usually stated in the contracts, and the operators’ interpretation of what is high risk is very elastic.
   

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5. Also require, along with the risk knowledge term, the emergency response plan. If accidents and unforeseen events can happen, the supplier must be prepared to explain what and how their back-up support is accessed in case of urgency, emergency or even if the customer needs or wants to give up in the middle of the tour. It is not uncommon for a user who has not been properly oriented in the real technical demand of the journey to discover in the middle of the way that he cannot reach the destination. Knowing what the supplier will do in such a case, believe me, makes all the difference.