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Crossing Boundaries: Transboundary Geographic Information in the Amazon Borderlands of Peru and Brazil

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Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

Abstract

The Amazon borderlands’ combination of remoteness, lack of state presence, high levels of biocultural diversity, abundant resources, flows of people and goods, and a lack of geographic information creates significant challenges for transboundary cooperation to reconcile conservation and development despite shared biophysical and cultural landscapes. Preliminary transboundary maps opened the eyes of governmental and non-governmental organizations and civil society to the previously invisible landscapes of the neighboring countries. Increasing demand for transboundary maps and analysis led to the Transboundary Geographic Group of the Southwestern Amazon’s (GTASO for its acronym in Spanish) mapping workshops in 2012, 2013, and 2019 that broadened the public’s understanding of these unique and important borderland landscapes on both sides of the border. GTASO grew out of collaborations between researchers seeking to map the remote Amazon borderlands of Peru and Brazil. This chapter describes the evolution of GTASO efforts to map the Amazon borderlands shared by Acre, Brazil, and Ucayali and Madre de Dios, Peru, and to a lesser extent Pando, Bolivia. We first describe the Amazon rainforest and borderlands, PanAmazonia mapping efforts, and the national mapping approaches of Peru and Brazil, and then present a critical reflection on the GTASO transboundary mapping initiative and its outcomes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The prioritization of the coastal region coincides with the “El Niño Costero” 2017 climate event which impacted over 500,000 people, killed 75, and collapsed 10,000 houses.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Environment & Sustainability, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, USA

    David Seward Salisbury, Claire Victoria Powell & Stephanie A. Spera

  2. Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia, Pucallpa, Peru

    David Seward Salisbury, Bertha Balbín Ordaya & Pedro Tipula Tipula

  3. Instituto Geográfico Nacional de Perú, Lima, Peru

    Desiree Estilita Alvarado

  4. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru

    Miguel Alva Huayaney

  5. Secretaria Estadual de Meio Ambiente Acre, Acre, Brazil

    Vera Reis Brown

  6. Universidade Federal de Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Elaine Lopes

  7. Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus Floresta, Acre, Brazil

    Antonio Willian Flores de Melo & Sonaira Souza da Silva

  8. Conservación Amazónica – ACCA, Madre de Dios, Peru

    Sidney Novoa Sheppard & Piero Enmanuel Rengifo Cardenas

  9. Comissão Pró-Índio do Acre, Acre, Brazil

    Maria Luiza Pinedo Ochoa & José Frank de Melo Silva

  10. Universidad Nacional de Ucayali, Ucayali, Peru

    Jorge Washington Vela Alvarado

  11. Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco – Puerto Maldonado, Cusco, Peru

    David Orlando González Gamarra

Authors
  1. David Seward Salisbury
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  2. Claire Victoria Powell
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  3. Bertha Balbín Ordaya
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  4. Pedro Tipula Tipula
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  5. Desiree Estilita Alvarado
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  6. Miguel Alva Huayaney
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  7. Vera Reis Brown
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  8. Elaine Lopes
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  9. Antonio Willian Flores de Melo
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  10. Sidney Novoa Sheppard
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  11. Maria Luiza Pinedo Ochoa
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  12. Piero Enmanuel Rengifo Cardenas
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  13. Sonaira Souza da Silva
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  14. José Frank de Melo Silva
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  15. Stephanie A. Spera
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  16. Jorge Washington Vela Alvarado
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  17. David Orlando González Gamarra
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Seward Salisbury .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA, USA

    Santiago López

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Salisbury, D.S. et al. (2023). Crossing Boundaries: Transboundary Geographic Information in the Amazon Borderlands of Peru and Brazil. In: López, S. (eds) Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22680-9_3

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