SURCLA Seminar | The emergent governance of landscape restoration in the Brazilian Amazon
Sydney University Research Community for Latin America (SURCLA) presents
The emergent governance of landscape restoration in the Brazilian Amazon
Speaker: Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo
Abstract
Over the last few decades, numerous initiatives have advanced forest landscape restoration in the Amazon, and the Brazilian government has set an ambitious target to restore 4.8 million hectares of degraded Amazonian land by 2030. A restoration network has thus emerged that connects multiple stakeholders and processes for negotiation, planning, plant material supply, and restoration actions. The network emerged in response to a multitude of institutionalized drivers that include regulatory requirements within Brazil, global funds, often linked to climate change mitigation efforts. This paper presents the power relations and value creation in the restoration network as a Global Production Network for an ecosystem service, which we assess how changes in institutions have given rise to emergent governance structures of landscape restoration. The resulting multi-scalar, networked mode of environmental governance is presented as a web-like structure co-created by various inter-firm arrangements and non-firm agents with geographical uneven distribution of power and capital. Formal institutions for environmental conservation and traditional communities rights have been constantly threatened by economic lobbying, particularly in current Brazil’s economic and political crisis within the ascend of far-right governments. Although some restoration drivers are vulnerable to domestic political change, the dispersed nature of the network governance should be strategically pursued as it enhances network resilience.
About the speaker
Danilo Urzedo is a forester with work experience in forest conservation and community forestry in the Brazilian Amazon within indigenous and rural communities. He has collaborated with diverse seed networks to upscale native seed supply for landscape restoration and promote local livelihood opportunities. He is completing his PhD at the University of Sydney’s School of Geosciences on the topic of Amazon forest restoration. His research focused on how multilevel governance and participation shape policies and development programs for biodiversity conservation and forest-based value chains.
For more information, contact: Nicole Fidalgo (PhD Candidate, Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies) – nicole.fidalgo@sydney.edu.au