Use of Animals for Communities of Small Farmers in the Réfugio de Vida Silvestre Matas do Sistema Gurjaú Northeast of Brazil

The Atlantic Forest is one of the largest tropical rainforests in the world and has a high degree of endemism, being one of the main targets of conservation actions in Brazil.The creation of protection areas (UC) is one of the strategies used to guarantee the conservation of this Biome. Ethnobiological and ethnoecological studies are important for understanding the relationships established between populations and ecosystems. Due to the ecological importance of the Atlantic Forest and the rich occurrence of wild fauna in its remnants, the present study aimed to characterize the use and knowledge of the farmers inserted inside and surrounds the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Matas do Sistemas Gurjau (RVS Gurjau) on local fauna. For this, semi-structured interviews were applied and the data obtained through the qualitative-quantitative analysis, using Local Value Index (IVL) and Value of Use (VU) indexes for men and women. The results obtained showed that the animals most used by RVS Gurjau farmers' communities were mammals, being the Tatu ( Dasypus novemcinctus ) the species with the highest VU and higher IVL for men, followed by the Teju lizard ( Salvator merianae ), and for women the Teju lizard ( Salvator merianae ) presented the highest IVL followed by the Tatu ( Dasypus novemcinctus ) and reveals guiding strategies for the conservation of species by local populations. Most of the species mentioned are according to the IUCN in the category of Least Concern species, with only the Gato Maracaja ( Leopardus wiedii ) being Near Threatened species.