Institution-based access implications faced by traditional communities in Amazônia: towards co-managing protected areas and Terms of Compromise for socio-biodiversity

Abstract

Given limitations of resource and market access reported by traditional local communities and a limiting institutional environment for socio-biodiversity in Amazônia, the main question is: how do institutions (re)shape natural resource and market access by Quilombolas in the protected area of the Trombetas River Biological Reserve (TRBR) and the Implications of the TRBR Term of Compromise (TC) – a formal institution written by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) – on livelihoodrelevant access to socio-biodiversity products (Brazil nuts) and markets. Methods include semi-structured interviews (n=89) focusing on Non-timber forest products gatherers, as well as observation and focusgroup interviews for data triangulation. An analytical framework is developed, combining access theory, institutions and property rights scholarship. Findings reveal that the TC overwrites institutionalised norms of Quilombola communities, which regulated such livelihood-relevant access long before the TRBR establishment (1979). The TC not only formalises BN use but also unintentionally restricts natural resources and market access, limiting Quilombolas’ bioeconomy-benefits.

Keywords

• Resource and market access
• Sociobiodiversity of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
• (in)formal institutions
• Formalisation
• Protected areas
• Rights-based management