Search

In October 2013, a group of indigenous women from the southeastern Ecuadorian Amazon started the “March of Life”. This 250-km long march – organized and led entirely by female representatives from the Achuar, Shuar, Zapara, Kichwa, Shiwiar, Andoa, and Waorani indigenous organizations – proceeded from the Amazonian city of Puyo to the capital city of Quito and was a response to the 11th oil licensing round in their territories. After this symbolic and arduous march, Amazonian women have continued to organize as a network and as active members of their indigenous organizations against renewed attempts by the government of licensing their territories to extractive companies, making their voices heard in the national media and their proposals more visible within the broader spectrum of environmental, anti-extractive and popular feminist struggles in Ecuador. This is the case of their proposal to declare the Amazon a “Living Forest,” publicly presented to the Ecuadorian National Assembly in 2013. Departing from my colabor ethnography with five leaders and members from this network – Elvia Dagua, Zoila Castillo, Rosa Gualinga, Nancy Santi, and Salomé Aranda –, and decolonial, feminist and Latin American indigenous thought, this paper reflects about the role of Amazonian women’s concrete practices that make the Amazon a “living forest” and that sustain their territorial struggle. Practices like cultivating the land, weaving clay pottery, sharing dreams in the mornings, or singing “with a purpose” are practices that not only build affective relations between the human and non-human, but that constantly recognize, relate to and even make the forest into a living entity. At the same time, these practices of forest-making nurture Amazonian women’s organizational strategies – e.g. when they sing at meetings with representatives from the government – and political discourse when confronting the state and oil companies. With this analysis, I hope to shed light on how Amazonian women’s territorial struggle is decolonizing environmental imaginaries about the Amazon as an untouched territory to be preserved, makes evident the continuum between resistance strategies and the reproduction of human and non-human life in the rainforest, and is transforming the anti-extractive struggle at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many different fields of knowledge approach social problems such as the overuse of resources necessary for human development and survival. Joining that enterprise, behavior analysts strive for a clear description of the contingencies that select problematic cultural practices or prevent the spread of solutional patterns of behavior. This description ought to encompass the reinforcement contingencies that operate not only at the ontogenetic level but also at the cultural level. For that enterprise, especially when one looks at the possible overuse of common pool resources, a dialogue with Elinor Ostrom's work is valuable. This article aims to describe and analyze the selection of different cultural practices in the case of the production of açaí berries in the Brazilian Amazon. In the past, caboclo communities in the Amazon region harvested and consumed the fruit in sustainable common pool management. The boom in the economy in the last 50 years has led to new practices. This paper argues that the profit of this market has selected new interlocked behavioral contingencies that may have different long-term natural effects, such as environmental erosion, and social costs, such as the exclusion of the traditional populations and the limiting of the low-income population's access to the product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• SWAF-HR data is new water surface extent product at 1 km over the Amazon basin from 2010 to 2016 every 3 days. • SWAF-HR provided from the fusion of three datasets: water surface fraction at coarse spatial resolution from an L-band passive microwave sensor (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity – SMOS), Global Surface Water Occurrence from Landsat (GSWO) and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Multi-Error-Removed-Terrain (MERIT) based on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. • The flooded area of the Branco floodplain (Roraima) varies from 0.2 times 104 to 2.7 × 104 km2 whereas the extent of the Bolivian floodplain (Llanos de Moxos) inundation ranges between 0.8 × 104 and 8.1 × 104 km2 during 2010–2016. • The choice of the DEM in the downscaling process introduces 5% of error in the instantaneous water surface extent estimate but can reach up to 10% in the flood probability estimations over seven years. • (MERIT) based on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). In this paper, we present a methodology to map inland water in tropical areas under dense vegetation at high spatial and temporal resolution using multi-source remote sensing data. A new inundation product (SWAF-HR) is presented. It is characterized by a high spatial resolution (30′, 1 km) and high temporal resolution (3 days). The SWAF-HR product is estimated over the Amazon basin for the 2010–2016 period. It is based on a downscaling procedure and the synergistic use of: (1) water surface fraction at coarse spatial resolution from an L-band passive microwave sensor (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity – SMOS), (2) Global Surface Water Occurrence from Landsat (GSWO) and (3) the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Multi-Error-Removed-Improved-Terrain (MERIT) based on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Thanks to the high capability of L-band microwave emission to reveal surface water under all-weather conditions and beneath the vegetation, the inundated area extent estimated by the SWAF-HR product is always larger than GSWO estimates obtained by the optical sensor (Landsat). SWAF-HR data is compared to ESA CCI and IGBP land covers, two SAR images and flooded areas over the Purus basin computed by the MGB-IPH model simulation. The results show the coherence of spatial and temporal dynamics of the SWAF-HR data. We show that the flooded area of the Branco River floodplain in Roraima (Brazil) varies from 0.2 × 104 to 2.7 × 104 km2 whereas the extent of the Bolivian floodplain (Llanos de Moxos) inundation ranges between 0.8 × 104 and 8.1 × 104 km2 during 2010–2016. The flooded area in the Branco floodplain gradually decreased from 2010 to 2015 but in 2016, the flooded area has increased during the rainy season. During 2010–2016, the minimum of the inundated surface extent was reached during 2015–2016 reflecting to a drought event related to ENSO. The most important uncertainties of the DEM are located over tropical areas but this information is essential in the downscaling procedure. Therefore, we investigate the impact of the choice of the DEM for the downscaling procedure. It is found that the choice of the DEM introduces 5% of error in the instantaneous water surface extent estimate but can reach up to 10% in the flood probability estimations over seven years. This new SWAF-HR product will be helpful for the understanding of the water, carbon and biogeochemical cycles of the Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dialogos (14159945) is the property of Universidade Estadual de Maringa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The conventional understanding of environmental governance implicitly assumes a priori presence of citizen rationality that underpins constitution of civil society vis-à-vis state. This assumption tends to overlook the economic and ecological consequences of social interactions through which people with diverse forms of rationality gradually produce distinction between state and society and shape environmental governance as an embedded process. This paper presents a case study of spontaneous settlers called posseiros in the south-east of the state of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon and examines ways that their social interactions lead to the so-called emancipation movements for municipal making on the agrarian frontier and open civic places in which environmental governance is negotiated. It pays particular attention to the role of religion, especially the Pentecostal Church of Assembly of God in relation to the traditional Catholic Church, in influencing the posseiros' ecological rationality and the articulation of emancipation movements and argues that the focus on religion sheds new light on the linkage between the environment, livelihoods and local governance. The paper concludes by discussing pragmatic implications of the case study for promoting sustainable rural development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Ambiente & Sociedade is the property of Nepam Unicamp and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: This paper seeks to understand how the Brazilian Amazon, which many thought unsuitable for agricultural development, has yielded to a dynamic cattle economy in only a few decades. It does so by embedding the Thunian model of location rents within the regime of capital accumulation that has driven the Brazilian economy since the mid-20th century. The paper addresses policies that have created location rents in Amazônia, the effect of these rents on land managers, and the spatial implications of their behavior on forests. Thus, the paper connects macro-processes and structures to agents on the ground, in providing a political ecological explanation relevant to land change science. The policy discussion focuses on reductions in transportation costs, improvements in animal health, and monetary and trade reforms. To illustrate the impact of policy, the paper presents data on the geography of Amazonian herd expansion, on the growth of Amazonian exports, and on the profitability of the region’s cattle economy. It follows the empirical presentation with more abstract consideration of the spatial relations between cattle ranching and soy farming, and implications for deforestation. The paper concludes on a speculative note by considering the likelihood of forest transition in the region, given the transformation of Amazônia into a global resource frontier. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The management and governance of shared stocks have long been identified as a challenge to achieve long-term sustainability in fisheries. This is the situation of fisheries in the Amazon basin, a region shared by nine countries. This paper provides an overview of the social-ecological outcomes and management implications of sharing fish stocks among countries with different public policies, taking the valuable Amazonian ornamental silver arawana ( Osteoglossum bicirrhosum ) trade as a case study. Specifically, it (i) presents and discusses the policies of Colombia, Peru and Brazil for the silver arawana fishery, and how these are conducive for the successful management of this shared transboundary fishery; and (ii) analyzes the market for the ornamental silver arawana and how it affects the ability to sustainably manage the fishery. The interplay between the multiple environmental, economic and social dimensions involved in the ornamental silver arawana fishery affects the sustainability of this species even in Brazil, where this fishing is forbidden but still illegally caught by Colombians and Peruvians. Among the factors that make fisheries policies inefficient in this region are: (i) incongruent policies between the countries and institutions with low organizational capacity to accomplish the established policies; (ii) environmental heterogeneity of Amazonian aquatic systems, which requires local and adaptive measures; and (iii) complex socio-economic relationships in the live-fish trade business. Legally binding efforts to reduce problems derived from shared fish stocks are an urgent need and should be addressed by the multilateral organizations created for the Amazonian sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper seeks to analyze local perspectives in Peruvian Amazon forest communities toward REDD and contrast those perspectives with current global and national REDD narratives. REDD is a global market-based approach to provide financial incentives for local actors to halt deforestation or to improve carbon stocks. To date, the REDD framework has not demonstrated that it is equipped to incorporate the diverse perspectives, potential interactions and uncertainties facing forest communities. We interviewed forest community members in the Amazonian state of Loreto, Peru, using “future scenarios” methods to elicit potential alternative narratives, both with and outside REDD. Indigenous voices reveal ambiguous attitudes toward REDD with regard to livelihoods, benefit distribution and the long-term impacts for communities and forests. They reveal considerable uncertainty about the future and lack of trust in governance regimes. Long-term community priorities were in generating work, providing educational opportunities for their children, and improving the quality of their forest. Conflict—within the community, with local loggers and with the recently established regional conservation area—was a prevalent theme. A REDD design that recognizes communities as active participants in global and national climate management and pays attention to local narratives will more likely generate the multiple benefits of healthy forests, strong communities and, ultimately, global climate change mitigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Dialogos (14159945) is the property of Universidade Estadual de Maringa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sessões do Imaginário is the property of EDIPUCRS - Editora Universitaria da PUCRS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Parcerias Estratégicas is the property of Centro de Gestao e Estudos Estrategicos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The ecological consequences of climate change for large tropical forests such as the Amazon are likely to be profound. Amazonian forests strongly influence regional and global climates and therefore any changes in forest structure, such as deforestation or die-back, may create positive feedback on externally forced climate change. Monitoring, modelling and managing the impacts of anthropogenic climate change on forest dynamics is therefore an important objective of forest researchers, and one that requires long-term data on changes at the level of community, populations and phenotypes. In this paper we provide the most comprehensive study yet on the seasonal dynamics of various leaf traits: leaf area index (LAI), leaf mortality (LM), leaf biomass (LB), leaf growth rate (LG), and leaf residence time (TR) from 50 experimental plots in a forest site at Belterra, Pará State, Brazil. From this study we estimate annual mean leaf area index (LAI) to be 5.07m2 m−2 and annual mean leaf dry biomass to be 0.621kgm−2. The typical leaf grew at 0.049kgm−2 month−1 and remained on the tree for 12.7 months. We compare these results to other similar studies and critically discuss the factors driving leaf demographics in Amazonia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]