Conservation, Territory, and Knowledge in Western Pará

Abstract

This thesis evaluates two case studies from western Pará state in the Brazilian Amazon: ribeirinhos living on the border of Saracá-Taquera National Forest and the Maró indigenous group fighting for demarcation of their territory on the Arapiuns River. Both cases consider the presence of Conservation in the region including the Brazilian state and international NGOs. Local communities push back against conservation interventions, contesting Conservation’s ability to ensure their ancestral territories as well as respect traditional knowledges. The ribeirinhos and Maró articulate alternative worlds to both conservation and development through the relationality they experience with the forest as Place-based peoples.