Throughout human history, the world's great forest formations have yielded to logging, cattle ranching, and agricultural expansion after transportation corridors made them accessible to frontier settlers. The Brazilian Amazon could prove to be an exception to this...

We all agree that nature reserves with minimal human influence are an important component of any conservation strategy in any country. Rather, the point of controversy is how best to achieve a much broader, more comprehensive conservation of nature in a region such...

According to some conservationists, large, pristine, uninhabited parks are the defining criterion of success in conserving tropical forests. They argue that human residents in tropical forests inevitably deplete populations of large animals through hunting, which...

This study characterizes the fishermen and the commercial fishing fleet of the lower Amazon, based on data collected from 5446 boats operating out of the city of Santarém in 1997. An economic analysis of the activities of these boats was based on 50 interviews with...

Fire poses the greatest threat to the forests of Amazônia. The magnitude of this threat is amplified by three positive feedback loops that drive the expansion of forest fire in the region: (1) Fire promotes drought, and therefore more fire, by releasing smoke into...

Paralelo ao movimento dos seringueiros para proteger as florestas e seu modo de vida, comunidades ribeirinhas da várzea do Rio Amazonas têm se organizado para proteger seus lagos da pressão da pesca comercial. No processo, as comunidades estão desenvolvendo uma...