Abstract
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operate in the Brazilian Amazon, mobilizing actors and resources to promote sustainability, mainly by supporting the construction of alternative farming systems. The main efforts are focused on reducing deforestation by means of agroforestry projects, which are introduced as alternatives to extensive livestock farming. This study analyzes the strategies adopted by the Amazonian Institute of Conservation and Sustainable Development and the World Wide Fund for Nature to engage farmers and other actors in their programs. The study was conducted in Apuí, one of the target municipalities of public policies aimed at combating deforestation. The findings reveal that these NGOs adapt their strategies throughout time in face of expressive institutional complexity in local and macro spheres. Acting as “institutional entrepreneurs,” NGOs have changed their discourses from an eminently preservationist focus to one that is more adapted to the economic concerns of local actors and connected to their moral and cultural norms, which also imply a reframing of “sustainability” through a scientific discourse that embodies a more technocratic approach to forest conservation.
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Notes
The decreasing rate of engagement in 2017 is mainly related to political reasons, particularly the rise of a new municipal government. Since this is not directly related to the NGOs’ engagement strategies, this study did not analyze the causes and impacts of this change on the environmentalists’ coalition. For more information, see Frizo (2019).
PPAs are areas along the rivers, lakes, and other sources of water, where a legal limit on agriculture and cattle raising is imposed. Meanwhile, FRA is a unit of protection of forest resources that is mandatory for any rural property in Brazil. The size (in percentage) of the FRA varies according to each Brazilian biome and can be used economically through the existence of a management plan approved by the environmental agencies.
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The present research was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
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Frizo, P., Niederle, P. Institutional foundations for environmental conservation: an analysis of nongovernmental organizations’ engagement strategies in the Amazon. Rev Agric Food Environ Stud 102, 349–367 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-021-00149-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-021-00149-9