Bruno Ubiali, a Ph.D. student in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology at the University of Georgia and a member of BNRGI, has recently published the article “Forests, Fields, and Pastures: Unequal Access to Brazil Nuts and Livelihood Strategies in an Extractive Reserve, Brazilian Amazon” in the journal Land. The article is based on his thesis and co-authored by his Masters’ advisor, Dr. Miguel Alexiades.
The study was conducted with forest extractivist rubber tappers (seringueiros) at the Cazumbá-Iracema Extractive Reserve, in the state of Acre, Brazilian Amazon.
Bruno and a couple that hosted him in the reserve and participated in the interviews.
The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with fifty-five household heads to investigate the complex relationship between differential access to Brazil nuts and investment in alternative livelihood strategies, notably and controversially small-scale agriculture and cattle-raising. The findings reveal that rubber tappers have developed informal (de facto) mechanisms to overcome formal (de jure), uneven access to Brazil nuts. Limited access to Brazil nuts is also overcome through investments in wage labor, swidden agriculture, and cattle raising, as part of highly diversified livelihood portfolios. The article highlights that the limited role of forest extractivism and reliance on other sources of income call for re-assessing the role and potential of small-scale cattle raising and agriculture and recognizing livelihood diversification as an important component of economic resilience.
The study speaks to an extensive body of literature that analyzes traditional populations’ livelihoods in the Amazon and will allow readers to further understand the complexities between differential access to forest resources and the livelihood strategies designed by smallholders, supporting the design of policies that aim for resilience in extractive reserves. The article also contributes to debates around the relationship between extractivism, forest conservation, social and economic development, agriculture and cattle raising. The study was funded by the University of Kent under the MSc. Conservation and Rural Development program and the authors also obtained logistical support from the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and financial support from University of Georgia’s Department of Anthropology.