Abstract ID: 115

Another look for the Amazon: differentiated approaches to human-nature interaction.

This paper intends to present preliminary results of research on &ldquoWater management in the Amazon: peculiarities and challenges in the sociopolitical context of the Purus river basin,” which is one of the actions of the Pilot Program for Protecting the Brazilian Tropical Rainforest- PPG7. Considering the PPG7 focus, the Amazon as a tropical forest has been a relevant area in the context of this program&rsquos actions. In the Amazon region, the Purus river basin is an area that still has a low degree of human impact on natural resources. However, this scenario is changing rapidly due to disorganized occupation in the region, resulting from the absence of regulation on economic actions carried out by actors from other regions of the country. Those actors interpret this space as an empty region to be occupied, in an action similar to what occurred during the 1970s, and characterized the Amazon as a natural resource frontier. This project seeks, therefore, to identify the elements that characterize the relation of traditional Amazonian populations with water resources and learn in which form, at the local level, understanding of the specificities of these groups, associated with institutional arrangements that will operate at the state and municipal level, may be effective in water usage in the Amazon region. Thus, the complexity involved in water management demands understanding of its political, economic, social and cultural dimensions. In terms of methodology, the project prioritized data interpretation utilizing a tool belonging to studies related to uncertain knowledge: fuzzy logic. Such a methodological choice was not random, but resulted from a heuristic conception that allows one to approach reality, identifying the various nuances that make up the observed scenarios. This methodological alternative seems to expand the analytical results produced by classical methodologies, such as the empirical mathematical models.

Session:  LCLUC and Human Dimensions - Social-economic drivers of land-use and land-cover change.

Presentation Type:  Oral