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The Turning Point in Amazon Deforestation: Historical Shift or Contextual Phenomenon?
Fri, March 31, 10:30am to 12:00pm, The Drake Hotel, VenetianAbstract
After a long period of strong deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, especially after 1970, a turning point is being observed. The yearly level of deforestation was reduced by 82% percent between 2004 and 2014. Deforestation was declining even in a context of strong economic growth. However, the well-defined decrease in deforestation was stopped after 2013. The deforestation rate grew up again in 2013, followed by another reduction in 2014. Are these changes just fluctuations or the signals of a new historical period of deforestation? In any case, the explanation for such a strong reduction in the Amazon deforestation is quite complex and has multiple aspects. The paper will take an historical approach to discuss the subject. It is important to contemplate its main dimensions: geographical, environmental, cultural and political. The main focus will be the links between scientific discourses, political culture and the federal government’s decision to reduce deforestation after 2003. On the other hand, it is already possible to make an assessment of the most effective conservation policies applied in the period. Another important focus will be the role of the huge savannah in Middle West Brazil - the "Cerrado"- as a sacrificial zone for the conservation of the Amazon forest. The central question will be about the historical resilience of the turning point. Is it a firmly established new historical paradigm of low deforestation in the Amazon or the improvements observed in the last decade were based on contextual political and economic factors? In this sense, the present political turmoil in Brazil, with the impeachment process against president Dilma Rousseff, can be a major test to observe the level of commitment of the different political forces to the conservation of the Amazon forest as a national goal.