A proteção de áreas naturais pelo Condephaat: estrutura, conceitos, critérios e diretrizes

Condephaat, Conselho de Defesa do Patrimônio Histórico, Arqueológico, Artístico e Turístico do Estado de São Paulo, was created in 1968 and wassubordinated at the time to the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Department. It played an important role in developing methodologies and conceptual and operational criteria for the preservation of natural areas. In the 1970s and 1980s, the agency embraced innovation by incorporating natural heritage into its scope of activity, adopting landscape as its guiding concept, and by reaching a record number of approvals in its heritage listing proposals. From the 1990s onwards, Condephaat’s management and operationalstructure was weakened and the listing process of natural areas was passed over to the environmental protection agencies, undermining the agency’s own view of the protection of nature as a function of historical, territorial, and scenic processes of socio-cultural appropriation. This paper, based on literature review and on direct research at Condephaat’sDocumentation Center, brings to light a historical account which otherwise would remain largely forgotten in the listing proceedings archives.