The "Chico Mendes" extractive reserve and land governance in the Amazon: Some lessons from the two last decades.

The discussions about sustainable development in the Amazon region, in particular the rubber tree social movement against deforestation and the struggle for land ownership, culminated in the implementation of conservation units for direct use, with the main reference being the "Chico Mendes" Extractive Reserve, located in Xapuri-Acre-Brazil, representing some kind of agrarian reform in the forest. The objective of the present work is to evaluate some of the lessons learned in the last two decades related to the guarantee of land ownership and the social reproduction of extractivists. The ASPF methodology of research project from the Federal University of Acre was used, based on social indicators such as schooling, access to land and housing time; economic indicators, such as economic efficiency and living standards in monetary terms; and environmental indicators such as land use and deforestation. The results indicate that housing turnover has decreased significantly in the analyzed period. However, for more than half of extractivists there is still no guarantee of land ownership. From the economic point of view, there was a significant reduction in both economic efficiency and the level of living among families. From the environmental point of view, there was a slight decrease in forests, with increased deforestation and increased pasture for cattle production. It is recommended that new research on poverty and rural development be undertaken to understand the reality of this community.

Pagando pelos serviços ambientais: uma proposta para a Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes / Paying for environmental services: a proposal for the Chico Mendes Extractivist Reserve

Sabe-se que o processo de ocupação econômica, pós-1970, foi extremamente prejudicial ao meio ambiente e às populações tradicionais da região Amazônica, persistindo ainda hoje as imensas dificuldades de reprodução das famílias no interior da floresta. Um dos principais desafios na busca de um Desenvolvimento Sustentável é a viabilização do desempenho econômico das unidades produtivas, a partir dos produtos florestais não madeireiros (PFNM), e, conseqüentemente, da reprodução social dessa população. Objetiva-se no presente estudo propor uma alternativa factível de pagamento pelos serviços ambientais (PSA) promovidos pelas comunidades extrativistas, há mais de um século. Para tanto, busca-se, inicialmente, realizar uma avaliação sócio-econômica da produção familiar rural na RESEX Chico Mendes, em Xapuri-AC, no sentido de oferecer uma proposta coerente com as necessidades das famílias estudadas. Utiliza-se para tanto metodologia própria e específica, por intermédios de medidas e indicadores de resultado socioeconômico, avaliando a evolução do desempenho econômico dos últimos nove anos na região. Os resultados indicam a diminuição da geração de renda de produtos oriundos do extrativismo, demonstrando as dificuldades de reprodução desse sistema e das famílias, além de realçar o fortalecimento de atividades predadoras da floresta, como é o caso da pecuária extensiva, realizada ainda de maneira rudimentar. Face aos níveis de reprodução familiar, calcula-se que o valor mínimo necessário para o PSA seria em torno US$ 13/ha, evidenciando um valor necessário e, ao mesmo tempo, mais adequado frente às proposições da literatura corrente, que estima valores para os mesmos serviços em torno de US$ 50/ha.

It is known that the process of economical occupation, in the last forty years, it was extremely harmful to the environment and the traditional populations of the Amazon region, still persisting today the immense difficulties of reproduction of the families inside the forest. One of the principal challenges in the search of a Sustainable Development is the promotion of the economical development of the productive units, starting from the non timber forest products (NTFP), and, consequently, of the social reproduction of that population. It is aimed at in the present study to propose a feasible alternative of payment for the environmental services (PSA) promoted by the communities extrativistas, there is more than one century. For so much, it is looked for, initially, to accomplish a socioeconomic evaluation of the rural family production in Extractive Reserve (RESEX) Chico Mendes, in Xapuri-AC, in the sense of offering a coherent proposal with the needs of the studied families. It is used for so much own and specific methodology, for intermissions of measures and indicators of resulted economical, evaluating the evolution of the economical development of the last nine years in the area. The results indicate the decrease of the generation of income of products originating from of the NTFPs, demonstrating the difficulties of reproduction of that system and of the families, besides enhancing the invigoration of activities predatory of the forest, as it is the case of the extensive livestock, still accomplished in a rudimentary way. In the face of the levels of family reproduction, is calculated that the necessary minimum value for PSA would be US$ 13/ha, evidencing a necessary value and, at the same time, more appropriate front to the propositions of the average literature, that esteems values for the same services around US$ 50/ha.