Resumen Hogar del Amazonas y de países con largas costas, la mayor parte de América Latina enfrenta una variedad de desafíos ambientales duraderos. Sin embargo, la producción académica de la región sobre política ambiental internacional está fragmentada y dispersa. El propósito de este estudio es analizar sistemáticamente la literatura sobre gobernanza ambiental en América Latina (2004-2023), con especial enfoque en teorías, métodos y problemáticas. Nuestra muestra incluye artículos publicados en revistas académicas indexadas, escritos en inglés, portugués o español, con el fin de responder a las siguientes preguntas. ¿Cómo puede la política ambiental latinoamericana contribuir a la comprensión de la gobernanza ambiental en la región y a nivel global? ¿Qué temas se han priorizado? ¿Qué teorías y métodos se han utilizado? ¿Qué vacíos quedan? Sugerimos una futura agenda de investigación y esperamos ayudar a fortalecer la literatura sobre gobernanza ambiental de las RI proporcionando insumos para mejorar la investigación en la región.

Abstract Home to the Amazon and other important biomes and to countries with long coastlines, most of Latin America faces a variety of enduring environmental challenges. Nonetheless, the region's academic production on international environmental policy is fragmented and dispersed. This study aims to systematically analyze the literature on environmental governance in Latin America (2004-2023), with a special focus on theoretical approaches, methods, and issues. Our sample includes papers published in indexed academic journals written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish to answer the following question: How can Latin American literature on environmental policy help us understand environmental governance in the region and globally? Complementarily, we ask the following: What topics have been prioritized? What theories and methods have been used? What gaps remain? We suggest a future research agenda and hope to help strengthen the international relations (IR) environmental governance literature by providing subsidies to improve research in the region.

The objective of this article is to evaluate how the most important political families in the nine states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon responded to two aspects of the 2022 elections: the advance of ‘bolsonarismo’ as a political force in the Amazon, and the environmental agenda. Based on the concept of political dynasties, the main family groupings (one per state) were selected. Our research question is: did the support of candidates backed by these families for Lula or Bolsonaro imply the reproduction of their respective environmental agendas? Two of the selected families have a well-defined ideological trajectory, while seven are marked by great ideological flexibility and are considered ‘swing families’. However, the majority of the families have agendas related to environmental degradation, and their trajectory converged towards candidates linked to anti-environmentalism. One family deviates from the analytical expectation, following a dynamic of economic interests and political calculation specific to the current situation. Evaluating the government programs of the state-level candidates launched or supported by these dynasties, we find that, in a national context marked by a well-defined ideological and programmatic dispute (in which the environmental agenda occupied a strategic place), support for Lula or Bolsonaro also led, in all cases, to the broad reproduction of their environmental agendas.

The Amazon suffers from the occurrence of mining along its hydrographic routes, which releases toxic substances into the aquatic environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of contamination by As and Hg that indigenous peoples are exposed to through the consumption of fish in an area impacted by mining activity in the basin of the Curuá and Baú Rivers, Altamira-PA. In total, 55 fish specimens and 30 surface water samples were collected. The decomposition of the fish samples was done by wet method with the use of nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, and microwaves. The quantification of total mercury (THg) and total arsenic (TAs) was carried out by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry with vapor generation (VG-ICP OES). The methodology proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was used. The results showed that TAs presents safe levels; however, THg presents a sample with levels up to (4.6 µg g 1), exceeding the permitted levels (1 µg g 1). The risk assessment shows that only the consumption of fish, linked to Hg, represents the existence of deleterious risks to indigenous peoples (hazard quotient (HQ)) > 1). Bioaccumulation factor (BAF) in fish represents a risk to indigenous people, because of the Hg’s presence. The study identified that illegal mining activities are responsible for Hg pollution in the Baú and Curuá Rivers. The fish species analyzed can be used as bioindicators of Hg in the rivers, which is relevant for making environmental and public health policy decisions.

ABSTRACT Background: The Amazon rainforest plays an essential role in sheltering global biodiversity and providing essential ecosystem services. However, the region has been threatened by increased rates of deforestation and degradation, which is often reported as the failure of the Brazilian conservation policy that could affect the image of agriculture Brazilian products abroad. In this sense, here we aimed to evaluate the foreign environmental perception of the region using data from social medias, to assess which are the main terms related to the region, how their importance varies over time and whether this perception tends to be more negative or positive. For this, we used data from posts made on Twitter® involving the term “Amazon rainforest” over 18 weeks using a data mining process. From these posts, we extracted the text, which went through steps of cleaning and organization, as well as crossing with additional databases (such as the sentiment dictionary). From the final data set, we first evaluated which are the main terms present in these posts and how their importance varied in the evaluated period. Next, we assess whether the terms cited are mainly negative or positive and how this sentiment varied over the monitoring period. Results: We found that the main terms are related to the environmental context such as “carbon”, “deforestation” and “fire” and that there is a relationship between their importance and the occurrence of fires in the region, which is positive with a temporal lag. In addition, we also found that the posts are, on average, composed of 68.47% of negative terms and that this sentiment predominates throughout the entire time series, being higher during the fire peaks in the region. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the environmental perception of the region presented in the posts in Twitter® is mainly negative, due to the degradation and fires observed over the last few years. We also discuss limitations of the approach and establish perspectives for future work.

Studies on the environment, public opinion, and voting have shown that, despite widespread support for the environmental cause among the population, this support does not necessarily translate into votes. This article will look into concepts including agenda setting, framing, and media effects to provide a background of how the environment became a prominent issue in public opinion. It will also test hypotheses that argue for the significance of issue decision salience, in conjunction with the issue ownership theory, to explain how the environmental issue influences vote choice. Our research focuses on the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, employing mixed methods that include both quantitative and qualitative techniques. All tests conducted confirmed that emphasizing the environment as a relevant issue and identifying a candidate as its primary advocate increased voters’ inclination to support them. This effect persisted even when including controls for other extensively studied factors in voter behavior literature, including the economy, religion, and age. The key conclusion drawn from our study is that the environment holds relevance in the electoral context. Evidence suggests that a relevant factor to understand why the environment and the environmental policy seem to have affected voting intentions (when common knowledge would suggest otherwise) is how the mainstream media and social media have set this agenda.

Abstract Identifying risk areas for envenomation by animals is relevant for public health, such as strategic distribution of antivenoms. Coral snakes are highly diverse in the Amazon, inhabit natural and human-modified environments, and the outcome of the cases tends to be serious and potentially lethal due to their neurotoxic venom. By integrating species’ geographical records and environmental variables, we used species distribution modeling to predict the distribution of coral snake species in the Brazilian Amazonia. We analyzed the relationship between the predicted distribution of coral snake species, along with envenomation data in the region, to propose actions to reduce the number of cases and to provide tools for a better policy of public health. We conclude that the entire Amazon shows high environmental suitability for coral snakes, and such suitability explains little about the incidence of cases. This is probably due to the low human density in the Amazon and to coral snake traits such as secretive habits and non-agressive behavior. Differently from other venomous snakes, the scenario regarding coral snakebites precludes the detection of prominent geographical areas of concern and demands a broad and equitable availability of health centers throughout Amazonia and along other areas of occurrence of the genus Micrurus. antivenoms humanmodified modified environments venom variables region nonagressive non agressive behavior Micrurus

Abstract Despite its potential to transition toward a green economy, the country became an environmental villain in recent years. The anti-environmentalist and anti-indigenist administration of President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) partly dismantled environmental governance. The Amazon and its more-than-human populations were severely hit by Bolsonaro’s predatory agenda, which supported and legitimized the interests of the anti-conservationist forces within economic sectors such as agribusiness and mining, and fueled organized crime and violence in the region. This paper provides an overview and analysis of Amazonian politics and policy during this period, and discusses the importance of, and possibilities for, a transformative approach to the governance of the region.

Resumo Apesar do seu potencial para transitar para uma economia verde, o Brasil tornou-se nos últimos anos um vilão ambiental. O Governo antiambiental e anti-indígena do Presidente Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) desmantelou parcialmente a governança ambiental. A Amazónia e as suas populações mais que humanas foram severamente atingidas pela agenda predatória de Bolsonaro, que apoiou e legitimou os interesses de forças anticonservacionistas no seio de setores económicos como o agro-negócio e a mineração, e alimentou o crime organizado e a violência na região. O artigo analisa as políticas amazónicas durante aquele período e discute a importância e as possibilidades de uma abordagem transforma- dora para a governança da região.

Resumo Apesar do seu potencial para transitar para uma economia verde, o Brasil tornou-se nos últimos anos um vilão ambiental. O Governo antiambiental e anti-indígena do Presidente Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) desmantelou parcialmente a governança ambiental. A Amazónia e as suas populações mais que humanas foram severamente atingidas pela agenda predatória de Bolsonaro, que apoiou e legitimou os interesses de forças anticonservacionistas no seio de setores económicos como o agronegócio e a mineração, e alimentou o crime organizado e a violência na região. O artigo analisa as políticas amazónicas durante aquele período e discute a importância e as possibilidades de uma abordagem transformadora para a governança da região.

Abstract Despite its potential to transition toward a green economy, the country became an environmental villain in recent years. The anti-environmentalist and anti-indigenist administration of President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-22) partly dismantled environmental governance. The Amazon and its more-than-human populations were severely hit by Bolsonaro’s predatory agenda, which supported and legitimized the interests of the anti-conservationist forces within economic sectors such as agribusiness and mining, and fueled organized crime and violence in the region. This paper provides an overview and analysis of Amazonian politics and policy during this period, and discusses the importance of, and possibilities for, a transformative approach to the governance of the region.

Abstract Forests provide ecosystem services (ES) that confer comparative advantages to the land market. The aim of research was to value forests that support ES in agricultural systems located in the Colombian Amazon piedmont. The hedonic price method was used to observe the influence of the forest on the price of farms and the contingent valuation method was used to find urban inhabitants’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for the conservation of the forests that guarantee these ES. Landowners identified carbon storage as the forest’s main ES, but the price of the land did not reflect the economic benefits derived from these: the marginal WTP was $ 964.4 dollars, a value that represents the opportunity cost of land use. However, the WTP per household was 0.33 dollars per year, a value that shows potential in the implementation of environmental conservation policy. JEL Classification: Q510, Q570, R11.

Resumen Los bosques proveen servicios ecosistémicos (SE) que otorgan ventajas comparativas al mercado de tierras. El objetivo de este artículo fue valorar los bosques que sustentan SE en sistemas agropecuarios ubicados en el piedemonte amazónico colombiano. Se empleó el método de precios hedónicos para observar la influencia del bosque en el precio de las fincas y el método de valoración contingente para hallar la disponibilidad a pagar (DAP) de los habitantes en la zona urbana por la conservación de bosques que garantizan estos SE. Los propietarios identificaron el almacenamiento de carbono como principal SE del bosque, pero el precio de las tierras no reflejó los beneficios económicos derivados de estos: la DAP marginal fue de -$ 2 115 200, valor que representa el costo de oportunidad de uso del suelo. Sin embargo, la DAP por hogar fue de $ 1124 anuales, valor que vislumbra un potencial en la implementación de política ambiental hacia la conservación. Clasificación JEL: Q510, Q570, R11.

RESUMEN Belén de los Andaquíes, Caquetá, ubicado en el piedemonte amazónico, es reconocido como municipio verde de Colombia, por su riqueza hídrica y paisajística. Es una zona con experiencia y potencial en la instauración de pagos por servicios ambientales PSA, como instrumento económico para incentivar la conservación de bosques, en la zona de influencia directa a la quebrada la Mono, una de las fuentes hídricas de relevancia en el suministro de agua, para el consumo humano en la población. Se empleó el método de valoración contingente, para hallar la disponibilidad a pagar DAP de los habitantes del área urbana, por la conservación de los bosques, para la protección del servicio ecosistémico de regulación hídrica. La DAP fue positiva y esto evidencia que la comunidad puede experimentar aumentos en el bienestar económico, a raíz de una medida de protección ambiental. Existe viabilidad económica y relevancia social al implementar estos instrumentos de política ambiental, para proteger servicios ecosistémicos importantes, en la mitigación y en la adaptación al cambio climático.

ABSTRACT Belén de los Andaquíes, Caquetá, located in the Amazon piedmont, is recognized as a green municipality of Colombia, for its wealth of water and landscapes. It is an area with experience and potential in the establishment of payments for environmental services PES, as an economic instrument to encourage the conservation of forests in the area of direct influence of the Mono stream, one of the most important sources of water for human consumption in the population. The contingent valuation method was used to find the willingness to pay WTPs of the inhabitants of the urban area for the conservation of forests for the protection of the ecosystem service of water regulation. The WTP was positive value, and this is evidence that the community can experience increases in economic welfare as a result of an environmental protection measure. There is economic viability and social relevance in implementing these environmental policy instruments to protect ecosystem services important for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Resumo: Os empreendimentos de infraestrutura de transporte que impactam Terras Indígenas (Tl) estão sujeitos ao processo de compensação ambiental, pois os danos causados devem ser compensados em decorrência dos impactos gerados na localidade. O trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a política dos povos indígenas e as interfaces entre povo Tupari da Terra Indígena Rio Branco, em Rondônia, e projeto de infraestrutura de transporte da BR-429/RO, fazendo uma reflexão sobre as relações socioambientais de obras de engenharia em terras indígenas. Dentre os procedimentos metodológicos, destaca-se o levantamento documental, tendo como objetos de estudos o Plano de Controle Ambiental da BR-429/RO (PCA), o Estudo de Componente Indígena (ECI) e o Plano Básico Ambiental Indígena (PBAI). Nota-se que a política dos povos indígenas prevê um processo de compensação ambiental com potencial para mitigação dos impactos gerados por rodovias. No entanto, é necessário implementar medidas que busquem a equivalência ecológica nas áreas impactadas. Evidencia-se que o instrumento de compensação ambiental do projeto de infraestrutura de transporte da BR-429/RO não tem conseguido efetivar-se de forma eficiente e, também, não supre os reais impactos gerados no meio ambiente.

Abstract: Transport infrastructure projects that impact Indigenous Lands (Tl) are subject to the environmental compensation process because the damage caused must be compensated due to the impacts generated in the locality. The work aimed to analyze the politics of indigenous peoples and the interfaces between the Tupari people of the Rio Branco Indigenous Land in Rondônia and the transport infrastructure project BR-429/RO, reflecting on the socio-environmental relations of engineering works on land indigenous peoples. Among the methodological procedures, the documentary survey stands out, having as objects of studies the Environmental Control Plan of BR-429/RO (PCA), the Study of Indigenous Component (ECI), and the Basic Environmental Indigenous Plan (PBAI). It is noted that the indigenous peoples' policy provides for an environmental compensation process with the potential to mitigate the impacts generated by highways. However, it is necessary to implement measures that seek ecological equivalence in the impacted areas. It is evident that the environmental compensation instrument of the BR-429/RO transport infrastructure project has not been able to be carried out efficiently and also does not meet the real impacts generated on the environment.

Resumen: Los emprendimientos de infraestructura de transporte que impactan a Tierras Indígenas (Tl) están sujetos al proceso de compensación ambiental, ya que los danos causados deben ser compensados como consecuencia de los impactos generados en la localidad. El trabajo tuvo como objetivo analizar la política de los pueblos indígenas y las interfaces entre el pueblo Tupari de la Tierra Indígena Rio Branco, en Rondônia, y el proyecto de infraestructura de transporte de la BR-429/RO, reflexionando sobre las relaciones socioambientales de las obras en tierras indígenas. Entre los procedimientos metodológicos, se destaca el levantamiento documental, que tiene como objeto de estudios el Plan de Control Ambiental de la BR-429/RO (PCA), el Estudio del Componente Indígena (ECI) y el Plan Básico Ambiental Indígena (PBAI). Se destaca que la política de pueblos indígenas contempla un proceso de compensación ambiental con potencial para mitigar los impactos generados por las carreteras. Sin embargo, es necesario implementar medidas que busquen la equivalencia ecológica en las áreas impactadas. Es evidente que el instrumento de compensación ambiental del proyecto de infraestructura de transporte BR-429/RO no se ha podido Nevar a cabo de manera eficiente, y tampoco atiende los impactos reales sobre el medio ambiente.

Abstract Based on the implementation of a forest conservation program in indigenous communities analyze how the indigenous population understands the state as an environmental ruling institution and how they perform as users of public policy. The results of this ethnographic study suggest that the implementation of this scheme of economic incentives for conservation generates a weak connection of the state as an environmental institution but reinforces the role of the state as a provider of development opportunities. With this scheme, the indigenous population has constructed alternative interpretations of forest conservation as an asset to attract future development opportunities and of economic incentives as rewards and tips. The main state effect of the program is the bureaucratisation of communities to adapt then to the state ideal of installing an audit culture.

Resumen A partir de la implementación de un programa de conservación de bosques en comunidades nativas, analizo cómo población indígena entiende al Estado como institución rectora ambiental y cómo se desempeña como usuaria de política pública. Los resultados de este estudio etnográfico sugieren que la implementación del esquema de incentivos económicos para la conservación genera una débil conexión estatal como institución ambiental, pero refuerza su papel como proveedor de oportunidades de desarrollo. Con este programa, la población indígena ha construido interpretaciones alternativas a la conservación de bosques como un activo para atraer futuras oportunidades de desarrollo y de los incentivos económicos como recompensas y propinas. Finalmente, estas desviaciones sobre la conciencia ambiental del programa se entienden por el fuerte componente administrativo sobre la rendición de cuentas que las comunidades hacen al Estado. De hecho, el principal efecto de estado del programa es la burocratización de las comunidades, con el fin de que puedan adaptarse al ideal estatal de instalar la cultura de la auditoría.

Abstract In this article, we explore elements that highlight the interdependent nature of demands for knowledge production and decision-making related to the appearance of emerging diseases. To this end, we refer to scientific production and current contextual evidence to verify situations mainly related to the Brazilian Amazon, which suffers systematic disturbances and is characterized as a possible source of pathogenic microorganisms. With the acceleration of the Anthropocene's environmental changes, socio-ecological instabilities and the possibility of the emergence of infectious diseases merge into a background of a ´twin insurgency´. Furthermore, there is a tendency to impose economic hegemony in the current Brazilian context, corroborating discourses and pressures to a scientific simplification and denial. With this, we assert that developmental sectoral actions and monoculture of knowledge characterize an agenda of omission, that is, a process of decision making that indirectly reinforces ecological degradation and carelessness in the face of the possibility of the emergence and spreading of new diseases, such as COVID-19. Tackling the socio-ecological complexity inherent in the risk of the emergence of infectious diseases requires robust co-construction of scientific knowledge, eco-social approaches, and corresponding governance and sophisticated decision-making arrangements.

Resumo Este trabalho analisou o desempenho de sustentabilidade de 26 municípios do arco do desmatamento no estado do Pará, Brasil nos anos 2000 e 2010, utilizando-se o Barômetro da Sustentabilidade com 31 indicadores nas dimensões social, econômica e ambiental. Os resultados mostram que Altamira e Novo Progresso tem desempenho intermediário nos dois anos e cinco municípios progrediram para o nível intermediário em 2010 enquanto os outros permaneceram em situação crítica. Houve desaceleração do desmatamento nos municípios, mas apesar dos resultados positivos alcançados, eles foram pouco satisfatórios para mudar o status de sustentabilidade dos municípios.

Abstract This work analyzed sustainability performance of 26 municipalities in the so-called amazon arch of deforestation in the state of Pará, Brazil in the years 2000 and 2010, using the Sustainability Barometer with 31 indicators in social, economic and environmental dimensions. The results show that Altamira and Novo Progresso have intermediate performance in two years and five municipalities progressed to the intermediate level in 2010 while the other remained in a critical situation. There was a slowdown in deforestation in municipalities, but despite the positive results achieved, they were unsatisfactory to change the sustainability status of municipalities.

Resumo O artigo examina como nas duas últimas décadas constituíram-se padrões de desenvolvimento para a Amazônia baseados tanto no fortalecimento da governança ambiental e quanto na expansão agropecuária. Descreve-se o como o processo de construção no tempo de um modelo de política ambíguo de desenvolvimento para a para a Amazônia que oscilou entre a gestão territorial fundado na perspectiva de uma “agenda verde” e o investimento em políticas que favoreceram a segurança territorial da posse da terra implementadas através de mudanças nos marcos jurídicos fundiário e ambiental. Finalmente procuro destacar a recente convergência de interesses da Cooperação Internacional, Estado e agronegócio em torno das políticas públicas de regularização ambiental ancorada na perspectiva da convivência harmoniosa e alinhamento positivo e sistêmico entre a economia e meio ambiente.

Abstract This article examines how in the past two decades development standards have been established for the Amazon based on both strengthening environmental governance and expanding agriculture. It describes how the process of construction in time of an ambiguous development policy model for the Amazon, which has oscillated between territorial management based on a “green agenda” perspective and investment in policies that favored territorial security of land occupancy implemented through changes in laws and regulations concerning the environment and land ownership. Finally, I emphasize the recent convergence of interests of international cooperation, the state and agribusiness around public policies for environmental regulation based on a perspective of harmonious conviviality and positive and systemic alignment between the economy and the environment.