International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2017

The debate on Amazonia in Brazil: prospective and hazards

(Abstract)

Elimar Pinheiro do Nascimento, Therezinha de Jesus Pinto Fraxe and Antonio Carlos Witkoski

The Amazon has morphed into an urban area, socio-culturally complex, producing cereals, cattle, minerals and hydropower. Deforestation has become a major risk. To cope with it,   proposals and policies have been developed recently, some of them stemming from three  visions on the future of the Amazon: the first one, of academic origin, developed by geographer Bertha Becker; the second one, of sociopolitical origin, is the Sustainable Development Plan of the Amazon (PAS); the third one, defended by the Minister of the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs (Secretaria de Assuntos Estratégicos) under Lula’s presidency, Roberto Mangabeira Unger. The article discusses these three visions and compare them, noting that some proposals join, others diverge, but convergence is predominant. However, all proposals refer to the role of the government and to the importance given to biodiversity. The government all-encompassing intention is to define once again the Amazon’s aspiration, without actually establishing the proposed measures. Therefore, risks and uncertainties persist.