The Land in the Middle

Abstract

Chapter 5 explores the creation of conservation areas in the region known as the Terra do Meio, a process that involved the collaborations of state actors with local and international civil society groups and ultimately transformed a region of substantial isolation and lawlessness into one of the world’s largest and most important biodiversity corridors. The chapter highlights how the sustainable development forms taking shape suggest how territories of conservation are circumscribed by strategic alliances and political moments and entail different, often contradictory, ideas of place and identity that are articulated by different actors.