Fighting to include local voices in environmental policy-making in Brazil

Abstract

Local voices and opinions are seen as important in formulating environmental policies, but in reality oral accounts, metaphors and symbols play only a marginal role, while scientific representations still dominate. This problem is deeply rooted in governance discourses that value satellite imagery and other scientific data above local views and experience. This paper focuses on policy-making in Brazil in relation to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.