Monkey, fish, bird and tourists: local actors and global contexts related to conservation in the Amazon

Abstract

The Amazon has increasingly become a terrain of intense and distinct local and transnational disputes. In the interior of its forests, cut by myriads of rivers, inhabit a variety of peoples that depend on it for their survival. This work analyses the ways in which some local groups deal with issues assigned by global agendas focused on the preservation of the forest. Through the relationship between three species of fauna and tourism, it seeks to understand how these groups locally develop their processes of negotiation and conflict resolution to practice their forms of conservation and development. Years of field research in two protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon provide a reflection on how the forest is inhabited and managed, revealing the ways in which communities and institutions negotiate conflicts of interests regarding conservation and use of the environment.