Sustainability, Development and Biodiversity: Global Theory vs. Brazilian Practice

Sustainable development is more than an agenda, it is a historical construct rooted in modernity. In response to the global theory of what is necessary to achieve biodiversity targets, Brazil, a megadiverse “developing” country from the Global South, gains international attention due to its differentiated role in terms of providing environmental services. To confront global theory and territorialized practice, the article looks at a protected area that overlaps with the lands traditionally occupied by flower-gatherers in the Cerrado, a tropical Savanna ecosystem. On the base of the case study, the dichotomy society/nature and the mobilization strategies of this grassroot movement are discussed in light of disputes surrounding sustainability, appropriation and usage of natural resources. Results show collective actors whose identity is articulated in the collection of native flowers from the rupestrian grasslands are somewhat successful in their struggle to re-signify the meaning given to ecology and sustainability through the production of counter-discourses to the conservationist paradigm.