Evolution of people-centered conservation in Brazil

Over the past 50 years, conservation science has shifted from a species-centered to a people and nature-centered field of research and practice (Mace, 2014), and Brazil has played an important role in this transformation. Brazil is a biologically and culturally megadiverse country. It contains 6 of the world's terrestrial biomes and a large coastal area (Scarano et al., 2024), as well as over 300 Indigenous ethic groups that speak 254 different languages and millions of resource-dependent communities (IBGE, 2017). Biomes, such as the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetland, are globally iconic places for biodiversity and host healthy populations of numerous endemic and threatened species, but at the same time, they have a millennial history of human habitation and in some cases were cocreated by nature and people. In the Amazon, pre-Columbian management has significantly shaped forest composition; domesticated tree species dominate vast landscapes and influence local patterns of species richness and abundance (Levis et al., 2017; Maezumi et al. 2018). The distribution of species, such as Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), is particularly indicative of sustained human cultivation and landscape use (Shepard & Ramirez, 2011). It is estimated that at least 6 million forest-dependent people now live in communities and rural settlements in the Brazilian Amazon (IBGE, 2017) and that 34 million people live in the Amazon region (Charity et al., 2016). In the Pantanal, over 90% of the area is occupied by cattle ranches (Chiaravalloti et al., 2023), and there are signs of human settlements 27,000 years BP on the northern border of the biome (Vialou et al. 2017). The Caatinga, an exclusively Brazilian biome, is the most densely inhabited semiarid land in the world (Tabarelli et al., 2017). Atlantic Forest and Cerrado are among the 10 original biodiversity hotspots due to their high levels of endemic species and deforestation rates (Myers et al., 2000). The Pampas, an extensive grassland biome, has over 10 million people living in its expansive plains, agricultural lands, and urban centers (Overbeck et al., 2007). Therefore, the implementation of conservation approaches strictly based on species protection has always faced challenges in Brazil (Silva, 2005).

People-centered conservation programs emerged in different forms and in different regions of Brazil. They started to appear between the 1980s and 1990s, when the international conservation science and practice agenda was mostly still part of the “nature despite people” approach (Mace, 2014). Among the earliest and most influential examples was the Amazon's Rubber Tapper Movement, which laid the foundation to the creation of sustainable use protected areas. Spurred by the international demand for rubber at the end of the 19th century, rubber tappers migrated to the Amazon, mainly from the Caatinga (Allegretti, 2008). Their livelihoods were based on extracting rubber and other resources from the forest, such as the Brazil nut and acai palm berry. The significance of this movement increased during Brazil's military dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by major government incentives for deforestation (Laurance et al., 2002; Moran, 1993). In response, these grassroots groups mobilized to protect their well-being, organised protests by physically blocking tractors from entering the forest (known as empates). Linking conservation with broader societal forces, many of the groups fighting against deforestation were formed in community centers created for political education rooted in socialist ideas (e.g., Comunidade Eclesianas de Base) (Allegreti & Schmink, 2009). In 1985, the movement's leader Chico Mendes was assassinated, and in response to an international outcry, the government granted one of the rubber tappers’ most important demands: agrarian reform by way of a large protected area where local people could have agency over how they accessed, used, and managed resources (Allegreti & Schmink, 2009; Silva, 2007). Locally called extractive reserves, this new initiative introduced the concept of sustainable use protected areas. Later, this concept was expanded with the creation of Sustainable Development Reserves, integrating local demands with scientific insights. Today, globally, around 36% of the areas formally designated as protected areas are sustainable use areas (IUCN category VI), meaning these resource use strategies protect local biodiversity through partnerships with local people (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, 2024).

Another critical project in the emergence of people-centered conservation in Brazil was the Arapaima Fishery Management program in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, also in the Amazon. Building upon grassroot initiatives like the Lake Preservation Movement, scientists, in partnership with local people, created a fishery management scheme that replicated Ostrom's (1990) governance principles based on common property regimes and applied them in an area where the giant arapaima fish (Arapaima gigas) was facing severe overexploitation (Ayres & Johns, 1987; Castello et al., 2009, 2011; Lima and Peralta 2017). Through community surveillance, clear penalties, community-led decisions, and fishing monitoring based on customary methods, the fish population and local people's incomes increased (Campos-Silva & Peres, 2016). Today, the program has been replicated in hundreds of communities throughout the Amazon floodplains, and it is considered one of the most successful cases of conservation practice (Levis et al., 2024).

Community-driven conservation has also emerged in Brazilian regions beyond the Amazon, for example, the restoration and agroforestry program in São Paulo State, led by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Institute of Ecological Research (IPE) (Chazdon et al., 2020). Together with people from the Landless Movement (MST), they created one of the most successful community-based restoration projects on the planet. Thousands of hectares of forest have been restored, hundreds of families currently benefit from agroforestry products (Shennan-Farpón et al., 2022), and endangered species in the region, such as black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus), have steadily recovered (Forero-Sánchez et al., 2024). The IPE has replicated the same approach in other parts of the country and has become one of the most important conservation NGOs in Brazil.

For a people-centered conservation approach, Brazil has always been—and still is—a place to look for inspiration. Such approaches resonate with the recent developments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which has adapted its goals to recognize the role of Indigenous and local communities’ (IPs and LCs) knowledge in biodiversity conservation (CDB, 2022) and has recently created a new subsidiary body to specifically engage and enhance IPs and LCs participation in conservation activities (CDB, 2024). These actions are partly due to the work of local communities and conservationists in Brazil (Silva, 2005).

In this special issue, we present 13 papers that explore different aspects of people-centered conservation in Brazil. Our aim is to promote an understanding of how community-centered conservation can become a central and effective aspect of conservation science and practice and how such conservation efforts, grounded in Brazil, can be scaled up and applied in other regions worldwide.

A primary focus of this special issue is to reveal how partnering local ecological knowledge (LEK) with scientific knowledge is the root of people-centered conservation. For instance, Borges et al. (2025) explore the use of LEK in systematic conservation planning, using participatory mapping and interviews with artisanal fishers to identify key sites for seahorse threat management along the coast of northeastern Brazil. Their comparison of LEK-derived and science-derived conservation priorities demonstrated strong spatial agreement and showed LEK's value in addressing data gaps and fostering inclusive, adaptable conservation strategies in data-limited contexts.

A similar approach was employed by Juruna et al. (2025), led by J.J.P. Juruna, a researcher and a member of the Juruna people. During the implementation process of the Belo Monte Dam in the Amazon, policy makers overlooked the impact of changes in the river's pulse dynamics and local people's livelihood strategies. By partnering with local people, Juruna et al. (2025 found a marked decrease in fishing yields, changes in boat types and fishing gear, and shifts in the composition of catches. They also documented impacts on the fish assemblage itself, reporting changes in fish reproduction, deterioration of aquatic and seasonally flooded ecosystems, and an increase in the number of sick and contaminated fish.

Also in the Amazon, Sampaio et al. (2025a) highlight the importance of using LEK when monitoring the abundance of mammals. These authors found that LEK is positively correlated with 2 mammal population estimates derived from camera trapping and advocate for the use of LEK-based surveys for more efficient and cost-effective inventories of multispecies assemblages relative to other conventional wildlife sampling methods.

A remarkable case in the Cerrado is presented by Novato et al. (2025). The authors assessed the impact of traditional fire and harvesting management on the iconic species Comanthera elegans, locally known as sempre-viva (everlasting flowers). The species is widely used for handicrafts and is part of local history and culture. The authors found that traditional management does not harm the species’ population. On the contrary, in sites where local practices are present, the everlasting flowers have thrived.

Silva et al. (2025a), using the Caatinga as a model, assessed the multiple benefits of people-centered biocultural restoration. They compared restoration sites where researchers choose the species that were planted with sites where local people selected the species to be planted. Their results showed that both sites had similar functional diversity, but the sites where people were part of the decision-making process contributed to local livelihoods. As recognition of Indigenous and LEK in conservation science grows, it is essential to further institutionalize IPs’ and LCs’ representation in academic research and decision-making processes. There are increasing examples of IPs and LCs leading conservation initiatives and research—including several highlighted in this special issue. Athayde et al. (2025), analyzing data from over 180 studies carried out in the Pan-Amazonian region (e.g., other countries that also host part of the Amazon forest), found that there are still structural barriers limiting IPs’ and LCs’ broader inclusion in authorship and freshwater governance policies. Strengthening these efforts requires moving beyond expanding opportunities for IPs and LCs to contribute to conservation science to ensuring their leadership and decision-making power are embedded in policy and governance frameworks.

The issue also includes studies that explore how scientific knowledge can help local people incorporate scientific evidence in their decisions about livelihood strategies and governance structures. Sampaio et al. (2025b) demonstrated that camera trap surveys assessing the impact of hunting with dogs on wildlife enabled local communities in a sustainable use protected area in the Amazon to make more informed decisions about their hunting regulations, ultimately leading them to ban hunting with domestic dogs to prevent overhunting and protect local wildlife. A similar approach was presented in Silva et al. (2025b), who analyzed the impact of implementing Ostrom's principles on fish assemblages in 2 sustainable use protected areas in the Amazon. These authors found that managed lakes significantly increase fishing revenue by a staggering 63% during the dry season compared with open-access lakes. Finally, Franco et al. (2025) demonstrated that community-based patrolling, when integrated with government command-and-control surveillance, can drive a major shift in tackling environmental crime. Analyzing 11 years of violations reported by voluntary local patrols in 2 sustainable use protected areas in the Amazon, they found that crime occurrence dropped by 80% in areas where communities actively participated, whereas no comparable reduction was observed outside the protected areas relying solely on government enforcement. Their findings highlight the power of community engagement in strengthening environmental governance and reducing illegal activities.

A third important aspect covered in this special issue is the concept of multifunctional or working landscapes. Lemos et al. (2025) highlighted the neglect of urban populations in Amazonian conservation policies and examined wild meat consumption and trade across rural, peri-urban, and urban areas in the Amazon. Their findings reveal widespread wildlife use across all urbanization levels, emphasizing the need for inclusive, people-centered conservation policies that guide wildlife users to sustainable wildlife management pathways. Taking a similar approach, Tabarelli et al. (2025) proposed a new way of viewing the Caatinga landscape. The authors argue that most conservation projects are species specific—what they call “mascotization” (or “petifying” [making into pets]) of threatened species)—and they present an alternative approach focused on multifunctional landscapes that value local culture, the diversity of ecosystems, and agricultural practices.

There are also thought-provoking papers from Sautchuk et al. (2025) and Parry et al. (2025). Using theories from the anthropology of techniques, Sautchuk et al. (2025) examined how partnerships with people can shift local perspectives on their role in the environment. They show that conservation programs supporting local people in accessing strictly protected areas have changed their milieu (i.e., their relationship with the environment), ultimately transforming how people engage with, understand, and relate to their environment. Parry et al. (2025) conceptualized forest citizenship in the Amazon by integrating various schools of thought and, through spatial analysis of Indigenous lands, sustainable-use reserves, settlement projects, and Quilombola territories (a legal status of communal lands recognized in Brazil for formerly enslaved Afro-descendent communities), estimated that 1.05 million forest citizens inhabit 31% of the Brazilian Amazon. These authors ultimately emphasize the need for bottom-up, socially inclusive governance to ensure that forest citizens’ rights are fully realized in practice.

The diverse set of papers in this special issue represent a snapshot of the remarkable experience of people-centered conservation in Brazil. There are several other incredible initiatives and biomes that are not represented (e.g., the Pampa, the Pantanal), which we view as a limitation. However, this collection should be seen as the beginning of a movement to document and showcase the inspiring and, at times heroic, work of local people and conservationists working in this beautiful country called Brazil. By developing a collection of highly nuanced and contextually grounded information, we hope to contribute to the reciprocal knowledge dialogue from the Global South (Anderson et al., 2015) in ways that advance the frontier of conservation theory and practice to Conservation Biology’s international and interdisciplinary readership.