Entre subsídios e turismo: Instituições e poder na gestão dos Baldios do Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês

Baldios are lands usually integrated in subsistence farming systems and historicallymanaged by the local communities for pasture and collection of livelihoods. In Portugal, today, these common lands are located mainly in the country's northern mountain ranges. Multiple events such as the technological modernization of agriculture, the afforestation by the dictatorial Estado Novo (1938- 1968), the massive emigration in the 1950- 1960's and the consequent decline of the agricultural sector, created a new economic and social conjuncture with consequences over the use of the common lands. In 1986 Portugal's adherence to the European Union (EU) and submission to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) also influenced the use of the common lands and the functioning of its institutions. Semi-structured interviews were performed on the thirty baldio units located in the Peneda-Gerês National Park (PGNP) in order to perceive their usage and its subjects, as well as the management strategies implemented in those common lands. As an adaptation to the EU's directives, the baldios are starting to assume a relevant role on the conservation of nature and maintenance of the cultural heritage, especially in protected areas. Simultaneously, tourism is increasingly accepted as a panacea for some of the problems of rural areas. In the baldios of the PGNP, although tourism is present and subsidies from the EU help to maintain the natural and cultural spaces, it is found that the baldios do not benefit from the revenue generated by touristic activities, even though members of the communities benefit indirectly from them. The extent to which tourism is an effective alternative to agriculture production is largely dependent on the commoners' will and on the negotiating skills of the baldios' managing bodies.