Nature enclosures: Historic peasants versus public and private conservation units of the Paraguay River in the Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil

Abstract

Conservation policy which discriminates against historic fisher-farmers of the Paraguay River of western Brazil is questioned using radical environmental history and critical global political ecology perspectives. Over the last three decades enormous areas located along the Paraguay River in the Pantanal wetlands biome have been transformed into public and private nature reserves. Reserve officials are usually trained biologists who hold erroneous views concerning pristine nature and peasant subsistence production. Research results show that the fishers do not deplete stocks while the sport fishers do, which goes against notions concerning the value of ecotourism for conservation held by park officials. The private reserves are shown to occult hobby ranches, fishing camps or mere land speculation. The resulting conflict with local people gave rise to a classic class action pitting the conservationists and pseudo-conservationists on one side and the peasants, concerned social scientists and public defenders on the other, with the courts siding with the latter.