In collaboration with Brazilian scholars, conservation professionals from NGOs and government agencies, and local resource users we have been exploring the relevance and applicability of resilience concepts for land use management on the Amazon frontier since 2009. Activities include:
- Field courses and research in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil;
- Seminar and reading group at UF; and
- Participation at the Resilience 2011 and 2014 conferences.
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As a result of this work, our Special Issue on “Social-ecological resilience assessment as a tool for management of the Amazon frontier: experiences and reflections” was published in the Brazilian journal Sustentabilidade em Debate in August 2016. Now available as a downloadable book as well.
The following PDFs may also be downloaded here:
- Overview of the Special Issue.
- Introductory article presenting the Resilience Assessment methodology developed and applied in northern Mato Grosso, with main findings on the resilience of large landowners, family agriculture and Rikbaktsa indigenous group, inEnglish andPortuguese.
- Resilience assessment of medium and large landowners in Cotriguaçu, Mato Grosso, one of 5 case studies in the Special Issue.
- Concluding article that presents TCD-based course pedagogy and reflects on how this type of learning can contribute to management and resilience, in English and Portuguese.
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Other publications on resilience and social-ecological systems:
- Literature review article in Portuguese: Buschbacher, R. A teoria da resiliência e os sistemas socioecológicos: como se preparar para um futuro imprevisível? Boletim Regional, Urbano e Ambiental / Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA), 9, 2014.
- An annotated bibliography of literature related to Resilience of Complex Social-ecological Systems and how these concepts can be applied in Tropical Conservation and Development research and practice (produced by the UF reading and discussion group led by Robert Buschbacher and Simone Athayde in 2011).
- A 2016 book review of Principles for Building Resistance: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems by Reinette Biggs, Maja Schlüter and Michael L. Schoon in English and Portuguese.
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We have also presented this work, together with our Brazilian partners, at the international Resilience Alliance Conferences in 2011 and 2014.
- Resilience 2011: Abstract on Integrating Training, Research and Social Learning for the Collaborative Management of Complex Socio-Ecological Systems in the Brazilian Amazon, with video of a role play that illustrates the challenge of reconciling diverse interests and perceptions of different stakeholders.
- Resilience 2014: Session on applicability of resilience assessment tool to management in contested frontier regions; Abstract on the Amazonian case presented in this session. Abstracts from Brazilian partners on resilience of family agriculture and populations affected by forced displacement due to hydroelectric dams.