Indigenous Amazon communities may show us how to rebuild economies sustainably, says University of Cambridge-led study
A study led by a Cambridge University lead author offers a new way of rebuilding our economies based on the success of indigenous and traditional communities in the Amazon basin.
Professor Rachael Garrett from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Geography and the Conservation Research Institute says that economic models known as socio-bioeconomies, or SBEs, could resolve the systemic changes in how Western economies are designed.
The report, in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, starts with the need to shift from environmentally harmful production in the Amazon to a model built around the diversity of indigenous and rural communities, and standing forests.
A group of conservationists from Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, the US and the UK say that current conservation and development efforts will never sustain or scale without systemic changes in how economies are designed. Quite the opposite - these extractive models have endangered not just the way that local tribes have lived for countless thousands of years, they have also damaged the ‘lungs of the Earth’ and ensured that climate change has reached a critical point.
The researchers have proposed a new model and associated policy changes that could create fair and sustainable futures for the Amazon and its people by improving infrastructure, supply chains, and social organisations. Their results, through the focus on the Amazon, suggest that similar economic models could be implemented around the world if the political will exists.
“We need a different vision for the Amazon if we’re going to protect it,” says Prof Garrett. “Half a century of deforestation and exploitation of the Amazon has not resulted in widespread development, and now the economic value of deforested areas is threatened, not to mention the threats to the global climate and water security.”
She adds: “The conventional economic model is simply not sustainable.”
The socio-bioeconomic model is focused on using and restoring Amazonian and other ecosystems sustainably, and supporting indigenous and rural communities. An SBE economy might include eco-friendly tourism, or the sustainable harvest and processing of plant products into valuable foods, beverages, clothing, and medicines.
“A limited range of interests are controlling the development agenda in most countries,” Prof Garrett notes. “The only way we can change that is improving the rights and representation of the people who are not benefiting from the systems and are being harmed by ongoing environmental destruction.
“We believe it is possible to have win-wins for humanity and conservation, but not if we continue to consume products that have a massively negative impact. SBEs can help put these win-wins into policy and practice.”
Prof Garrett cites the footwear brand Veja as an example of such a win-win. The French company buys the rubber for its trainers from small-scale Amazonian rubber farmers, and purchases 100 per cent of the responsibly harvested native rubber in Brazil. As part of its sustainability efforts, the company focuses on building communities of small-scale farmers and has been financially successful without traditional advertising.
Garrett and her collaborators are calling for massive increases in social mobilisation, technology and infrastructure to support SBEs. Under an SBE model, governmental subsidies would be redirected away from agribusiness and toward smaller-scale sustainable development. The researchers also outline how to build connections between rural and urban policies in SBEs. An example is the establishment of public procurement programmes where healthy and sustainably produced foods are purchased directly from indigenous and small farming communities and served in school lunch programmes and hospitals, instead of supporting large-scale agribusiness engaged in degrading practices.
Other policy changes that could support an SBE model include redirecting finance to conservation and restoration activities, supporting community enterprises, and ensuring participatory processes to ensure inclusive, long-term benefits.
“It’s possible to have an economy that is strong and works for everyone when we dare to develop new models and visions that recognise the interconnectedness of people and nature,” concludes Prof Garrett.
