Country: Französisch-Guayana – City: Cayenne – Address: French Guiana, Cayenne, Campus du Troubiran

Human ecological legacies and the resilience of the Amazonian rainforest

Description:

This event aims to explore how the historical exploitation of Amazon rainforest products has impacted current forest ecosystems, and how the historical management of forests by the peoples who lived there can shed light on sustainable resource management. Karl Arenz, Rafael Chambouleyron, Matthew Abel, Leonardo Raiol and Nicola Todorov will discuss the emergence of a distinctly Amazonian peasantry, born from the confrontation with colonial exploitation of the forest and with the development projects of the Brazilian state. For instance, from a long-term perspective, they will highlight the exploitation of cacao, a product that has become a flagship export of the Amazon, now representing half of Brazil’s cacao exports, but whose cultivation and harvesting are steeped in a long history. Furthermore, they will examine the closely intertwined history of contemporary rainforest peoples and industrial capitalism through the eyes of their mestizo forest farmers. They focus particularly on border zones drawn by colonial powers and their successors, and show how these border populations managed their environments. They will investigate disparities created by these borders and their anthropogenic ecological legacies, linking these differences to indicators of current biodiversity and exploring the potential of this knowledge for assessing the resilience of the Amazon rainforest.

Main objectives:

Making side events organised at the COP 30 accessible to large public

Event language: French

The event will be: mixed, in presence with streaming/remote participation (the link must be indicated in this form)

Link (for online events):

Reference person: Nicola Todorov – Role or function: Lecturer in geography university of French Guiana – Reference organization: University of French Guiana, Collectivité territoriale de Guyane

Those who organize are: Academics, Students

Estimated starting time (local time): 6:00:00 AM

Expected duration: around 2 hours

Event program: it will be displayed here as soon as possible

GeoNight code: 2026281