The role of the Amazon Fund in peasant appropriation of nature: conflicting territorialities in the PAE Lago Grande (Santarém - PA)

• Grant number: 24/20658-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Marta Inez Medeiros Marques
• Grantee: Pedro Campos Francisco
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

New environmental financing mechanisms have been created to address the major challenges posed by the convergence of the contemporary environmental crisis with the crisis of capital accumulation. On one hand, these mechanisms represent a strategy by capital to manage crises that are themselves engendered by the capitalist development process. On the other hand, these same mechanisms are being used by peasant communities to strengthen practices of conservation and forest restoration, as well as to promote sustainable and agroecological economic activities. Thus, the main objective of this project is to understand how the Agroecological Amazon project of the Amazon Fund has affected peasant appropriation of nature in the Agro-extractivist Settlement Project (PAE) Lago Grande, in the municipality of Santarém, Pará, taking into account the conflict between distinct territorialities within this settlement. To achieve this, an extensive bibliographic and documentary review on the topic will be developed. Following this, two field studies will be carried out: one within the settlement, where ethnography, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews will be conducted; and another through participation in COP 30 in Belém, Pará, as an observer. A research internship abroad is also planned to deepen discussions on peasant appropriation of nature in comparison with Mexican peasant experiences. Finally, an analysis of the results and interpretation of this phenomenon will be conducted from a qualitative approach and through a historical materialist and dialectical perspective.