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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2024
Nowadays, that part of Amazonia which is situated on Brazilian territory is more and more the focus of attention for communication methods and the international agenda. This enormous expanse of land covered by tropical forest of unequalled beauty, extending over several Brazilian states, possesses an extremely rich biodiversity, with a vast potential reserve of natural resources of all sorts, and inspires admiration as well as inevitable greed. The intensification of human activity in the region has given rise to problems such as deforestation and a resulting loss of organic matter whose importance has yet to be properly evaluated; it has also led to conflict between the different local groups, such as the indigenous population, gold prospectors and the big landowners, and to the degradation of quite extensive areas, thus provoking questions on how best to promote sustained development in the region.
1. There are excellent descriptions of the attempts to occupy Amazonia. Of note are the studies by Bertha K. Becker (1990), Amazônia, São Paulo: Éd. Atica; Manoel Miranda Neto (1986), O Dilema da Amazonia, Belém: Cejup; Shelton Davis (1977), Victims of the Miracle, New York: Cambridge University Press.
2. For the poor environmental image which Brazil had at the time, see, for example, Andrew Hurrell, ‘Brazil and the International Politics of the Amazonian Deforestation', in Andrew Hurrell and Benedict Kingsbury (1992), The International Politics of the Environment, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 398-429.
3. Rubens Bayma Denys (1998), O engessamento da Amazonia, in A Défense Nacional, 779, pp. 44-5.
4. Commission on Development and Environment for Amazonia. Amazonia Without Myths. IDB/UNEP/ Amazon Co-operation Treaty 1992, p. 8.
5. Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima (1997), Caminhos Diplomaticos. 10 anos de agenda international, Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves, pp. 189-206.
6. Henri Acselrad, (ed.) (1992), Meio Ambiente e Democracia. Rio de Janeiro: IBASE.
7. Clóvis Brigagão (1996), Inteligência e Marketing: O Caso SIVAM, Rio de Janeiro: Editora Record.
8. For more information, see www.mma.govbr.