Country Name: Brazil
Author: Mary Allegretti

This article was first translated from the new Portuguese version of the Ecosystem Marketplace, www.mercadosambientais.com. Mary Allegretti, an anthropologist and professor of Sustainable Development, tells the Ecosystem Marketplace why she thinks Brazil is ready for a revolution built around payments for ecosystem services.



The idea that native populations protect the natural resources necessary for their survival was first conceived in the 1980's. The growing number of conservation entities organized around this principle attests to its continued popularity. The expectation that natural products from the forest will sustain these same communities, however, has failed to materialize. As a result, indigenous communities are being under-compensated for the environmental services they supply to society.

The comparison between the two classic economic activities, agriculture and gathering of forest products, shows clearly the horns of the dilemma. The farmer produces soybeans, cotton, or coffee, the sale price of which reflects the cost of the land, bought or rented. Without this prior investment, no such economic activity takes place. The extractive activities are different, since nut or rubber gatherers price their products only according to their labors, with no consideration of the value of the natural capital represented by the Brazil nut trees or rubber trees themselves. The unprofitable nature of most extractive activities is not due to any intrinsic defect, but results from a market-assigned price that does not do justice to the natural capital that forms the base of economic activity.

Sustainable resource extraction in the manner long practiced in Amazonia maintains the stock of natural capital. In a sense, this natural capital forms the infrastructure from which the environmental services supplied by the ecosystem flow. Rubber gatherers, Brazil nut gatherers, and fishermen are responsible for maintaining this natural capital since their livelihood depends on these ecosystems. As such, these communities can be regarded as the providers of environmental services. If the conventional market refuses to take into consideration the value of the natural capital and the environmental services they provide, a political strategy must be devised to remedy this situation, be it through government intervention, a change in the market rules, or both.

Communities of gatherers that depend on natural resources for their survival are forced to use these resources in a sustainable manner. For this to occur, certain basic requirements must be met under the protection of the law: communities must be safe from expulsion or the threat posed by the economic activities and policies of those outside the community. In addition, the basic rights of education, health, and information must be safeguarded.

In other words, the conservation of natural resources by these communities is the fruit of a pact with the government; these communities assume the role of guardians of natural resources in exchange for the economic benefits that accrue to them in this role. It is in this capacity that investment in the modernization of the activities of these communities is necessary, more so than for mere improvements in living standards.

In practice, only part of this bargain has been fulfilled, since many territories, including unproductive regions, have been protected without compensation by social investment. In the first decade of this policy (1990-2000), the guarantee of territorial security was sufficient. Today, things have changed since the new generation of people born in these protected areas seeks a category of investments beyond what's been granted in the past. They seek professional qualification in the area of resource management, production of value-added goods, communication and integration with the wider world, without being forced to leave the forest.

This goal can be met only through innovative policies formulated specifically to reward environmental services, something that requires a new pact between the government, these communities, and society as a whole. The government must accept the responsibility for protecting the territorial integrity of these regions, and it should make basic investments in health, education, and social infrastructure. The communities of gatherers are charged with protecting natural resources according to the rules of this agreement. It is the duty of society to implement productive partnerships that value the forest's assets and biodiversity.

Some nascent programs already exist: the Chico Mendes Law in the Brazilian state of Acre authorizes subsidies for the price of natural latex produced by rubber gatherers, a measure to increase the aggregate value of these laborers' product. Proambiente, a program proposed by farming families in the state of Pará seeks to compensate rural communities for the transition from predatory agriculture to a more sustainable variety.

No other country has faced the challenge on the same scale as that which Brazil faces: compensating indigenous and traditional communities for the services they provide in protecting our natural capital. Meeting this challenge would represent a revolution on the economic, cultural, and environmental fronts without precedent on our planet.

Mary Allegretti is an anthropologist and professor of Sustainable Development.

First published: September 29, 2006

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