Environmental policy in Brazilian Amazonia: Lessons from recent history

Résumé

Tropical forest in Brazil, as in other countries, faces threats stemming from decision making that favors destructive development and gives only token consideration to lost environmental services and other impacts. History, particularly the most relevant period covering the recent years of rapid development in Amazonia, is a source of useful lessons for changing the decision-making process to favor outcomes that are less destructive and more sustainable. Development decisions set processes in motion with consequences extending far into the future, adding urgency to the task of assimilating these lessons. Decisions in the coming decade will determine the fate of Brazil’s Amazon forest, as is also the case for other countries that could benefit from the lessons of recent history in Brazil.