Socio-environmental reflections through adventure, ecotourism, and nature-based practices

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Adventure activities, ecotourism, and other nature-based practices have gained increasing prominence within the field of Physical Education, often associated with discourses of sustainability, environmental conservation, and well-being promotion. However, these practices are not neutral, as they are shaped by tourism, economic, and sociocultural dynamics that may both strengthen connections with territories and reproduce processes of commodification and exclusion. 
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the socio-environmental reflections emerging from experiences related to adventure, ecotourism, and nature-based practices across different Brazilian territories. 
METHODS: The study adopted an autoethnographic approach, direct observations, field diaries, and route notes produced during experiences conducted in Manaus (AM), Ilhabela (SP), Socorro (SP), Vale do Ribeira (SP), Boituva (SP), and Bonito (MS). 
RESULTS: The findings revealed that the relationships between tourism, nature, and conservation take on distinct configurations in each territory, ranging from processes of landscape commodification and economic development strategies to forms of territorial belonging and environmental conservation initiatives. 
CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the educational potential of these practices does not lie merely in contact with nature itself, but in the ways experiences are organized, interpreted, and lived, thereby contributing to the development of more ethical, sensitive, and socially and environmentally just relationships.