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Global environmental change has motivated multiple interventions in pursuit of sustainable outcomes within tropical forest landscapes. Fire is recognised as a key Stressor facing forest conservation efforts. Large-scale accidental fires are increasingly prevalent across the forested tropics, generating negative impacts across sectors and scales. Policy responses to mega-fires in the Brazilian Amazon have been diverse but all are dominated by an anti-fire narrative that highlights long-stigmatised smallholder agricultural practices. Despite forest conservation initiatives and fire management policies, escaped fire (wildfire) remains pervasive. Forest conservation initiatives are often situated in contexts where swidden agriculture prevails, generating a need for an improved understanding of the interplay between fire management and conservation initiatives on the ground. We explore these dynamics through a case study approach in three leading forest conservation initiative types, situated across diverse contexts in the Brazilian Amazon: a Reduction of Emissions of Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) site (in Middle Solimōes region), an extractive reserve (RESEX) (in Arapiuns region), and a Green Municipality Pact (GMP) (in Paragominas). Between sites, climate and colonisation histories vary, yet all demonstrate that farmers experience the burden of escaped fire, attesting to the failure of fire management policies and suggesting that fire (as currently managed) threatens forest conservation goals. Restrictive fire management policies do not replace the necessity of fire-based agriculture and rather serve to disempower swidden farmers by making burning increasingly illicit. We show that awareness of fire-free alternatives exists, yet experience is limited and constraints are considerable. We argue that marginalising fire use in the context of forest conservation initiatives contributes to a legacy of failed interventions and jeopardises partnerships between communities and conservation practitioners. Finally, we suggest that given the absence of imminent and viable fire-free alternatives, particularly in sites where swidden and conservation collide, a new model of fire warrants experimentation.

Environment‐facing interventions impact the distribution, use of and access of natural resources and have important implications for all dimensions (material, relational, quality of life) of human well‐being (HWB). Yet conventional impact metrics routinely surpass the non‐material impacts which may be particularly salient in rural contexts where small‐scale farmers depend directly on the land and biodiversity. Furthermore, little is known about the comparative performance of distinct interventions along a land‐sharing, versus land sparing gradient, on local definitions of HWB. We address this knowledge gap, adopting a perception‐based impact evaluation within communities across four intervention types representing the land sparing, sharing gradient: intensified industrial soy production (n = 60 HHs), a protected area (n = 70), an extractive reserve (n = 70) and a national forest (n = 70) in Pará in the Brazilian Amazon. We collected data using the Global Person Generated Index (GPGI) with household heads (n = 270) in eight communities (two per intervention type). Focus group discussions (n = 8) solicited residents' perceptions of impact pathways. Our findings highlight the important contribution of relational and subjective dimensions to HWB and call in to question the dominance of material measures in standard impact appraisals. Furthermore, we show that single sector and integrated approaches generate ‘polarized impact footprints’ in which integrated approaches achieve (a) more impact, which is (b) more often positive and (c) locally salient, the inverse is true for single‐sector sparing style approaches. Areas of well‐being that matter locally (culture, health and social relations), but are not impacted by interventions are relational, and point towards the potential of rights‐based conservation to empower rural smallholders to remain in their communities while flourishing. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Resumo As intervenções orientadas para o ambiente têm impacto na distribuição, utilização e acesso aos recursos naturais e têm implicações importantes para todas as dimensões (material, relacional, qualidade de vida) do bem‐estar humano. No entanto, as métricas convencionais de impacto ultrapassam rotineiramente os impactos não materiais que podem ser particularmente salientes em contextos rurais onde os pequenos agricultores dependem diretamente da terra e da biodiversidade. Além disso, pouco se sabe sobre o desempenho comparativo de intervenções distintas ao longo de um gradiente de partilha da terra, em comparação com o gradiente de poupança da terra, nas definições locais de bem‐estar humano. Abordamos esta lacuna de conhecimento, adoptando uma avaliação de impacto baseada na percepção dentro das comunidades através de quatro tipos de intervenção que representam a terra poupada, partilhando gradiente: produção industrial intensificada de soja (n = 60 HHs), uma área protegida (n = 70), uma reserva extrativista (n = 70) e uma Floresta Nacional (n = 70) no Pará, na Amazônia Brasileira. Recolhemos dados utilizando o Global Person Generated Index (GPGI) com chefes de família (n = 270) em 8 comunidades (2 por tipo de intervenção). As discussões dos grupos focais (n = 8) solicitaram aos residentes as percepções dos percursos de impacto. As nossas conclusões salientam a importante contribuição das dimensões relacionais e subjetivas para o HWB e apelam a questionar a dominância de medidas objetivas nas avaliações de impacto padrão. Além disso, mostramos que as abordagens setoriais e integradas geram ‘pegadas de impacto polarizadas’ nas quais as abordagens integradas conseguem (i) mais impacto, o que é (ii) mais frequentemente positivo, e (iii) localmente saliente. As áreas de bem‐estar que são importantes localmente (cultura, saúde e relações sociais), mas que não são afetadas pelas intervenções são relacionais, e apontam para o potencial da conservação com base no direito de permitir que os pequenos proprietários rurais permaneçam nas suas comunidades enquanto florescem. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

In Amazonian floodplains, manioc flour is the main plant food product and source of income for local populations. In the context of climate change, extreme flooding is more frequent and intense, making it difficult to cultivate and process manioc. As local knowledge is dynamic and fundamental to adapt in critical times, we studied local techniques for storing manioc roots, which allow them to be processed later. We conducted semi-structured interviews in three floodplains (várzea) communities (36 families) and three paleo-floodplain (paleovárzea; 1–3 m higher) communities (52 families) in the middle Solimões River basin (Brazil). Residents mention four techniques for storing fresh manioc; two were cited in archaeological or ethnographic studies (burial and basketing), and two were not cited before in the region (bagging and kanaká). In the paleovárzea, where manioc production is more important as a source of income, residents have more knowledge of manioc storage techniques. However, this knowledge also persists in areas where manioc has less importance for income generation. Residents of the study area express demand for disseminating these practices, as they can contribute to adaptation in critical periods.

An established body of literature documents current changes in rural livelihoods, agricultural practices, and agrobiodiversity patterns in smallholder communities across the globe. Contributing to this literature, this paper documents change in agricultural practices and agrobiodiversity patterns in a tidal floodplain settlement in Amapá, Brazil, where in recent years farmers increasingly devote their attention to the production of açaí fruits, an important regional crop with strong local, national and international markets. Research results indicate that farmers are abandoning subsistence production in annual fields to make room for açaídominated agroforests. At the same time, farmers are diversifying home gardens, and as a result conserve a portion of the crop diversity once maintained in annual fields in these areas. Agrobiodiversity documented in home gardens is much higher than previously recorded in the study area, and is equal or higher than previously reported in home gardens in other less-market integrated Amazonian communities. Research points to the need for innovative methods to document agrobiodiversity patterns in today's modifying landscapes and for the historical analysis of such patterns to avoid presumptions that observed changes are unilateral and unidirectional.

Changing fire regimes in the context of climate change call for new understandings of their diversity, use, policies, practices and politics. While catastrophic fires are redoubling calls for suppression, new political ecologies debate fire prohibition politics and emphasise understanding and incorporating local knowledge into management decisions. Latin American countries are characterised by strong regional tensions associated with environmental policies, agriculture and infrastructure development that often compete with local livelihoods, traditional management and a range of resource use practices. Landscape knowledge systems that inform customary use, access and resource interventions have become a new node of contestation; these are added to the perennial question of land rights, especially as carbon politics and other environmental services become more important in the structuring of autonomy over land uses. This themed section presents research conducted in different countries and biomes in Latin America and explores the historical and current tensions around the development of the science of burning by local populations. Research outlines the contradictions and tensions between fire control policies and rural livelihoods, and the emergent political factors and ideologies that inherent in fire conflicts and could help shape solutions. Our four case studies in different regions of south America (Amazon, Cerrado, Chiquitana), explore the production, application and circulation of knowledge about fire and its consequences using an array of methods: classical descriptive models, analytics from political ecology, and the complex arena of science and technology studies. The latter help us to understand the conflictual dynamics associated with \"new fire management,\" which relies on more technological means of fire control as well as legislation, payments, and new governmentalities to transform traditional practices. Overall, the papers place fire management in its new active political and ecological framing, namely at the heart of current development debates in the Latin American tropics.

Over the past 15 years income sources in the Amazonian community of Carvão have diversified to include government salaries, retirement and welfare benefits, and wages from an evolving informal service sector. These non-farm incomes are now more important to household incomes than the sale of agricultural products. Out of 80 households only three families were found to depend almost entirely on the sale of agricultural goods for cash income. Agriculture is still a part of most families' livelihoods; however, production today is mainly a subsistence activity. Recent changes in Carvão are consistent with trends of livelihood diversification observed in rural societies across the globe. However, current research reveals that Carvão is different from other case studies in a number of ways. A history of livelihoods illustrates that residents in Carvão have always engaged in a range of activities, including farming, extractive activities, and wage labor. New incomes are the result of new jobs in the public sector and social policies benefiting the rural poor. In contrast to the literature on livelihood diversification, the decentralization of the federal government in Brazil has resulted in greater opportunities for rural income and employment. Consistent with recorded trends, research shows that small farmers in Carvão have down-sized agricultural production. Farmers cite low market prices (the result of vertical integration of local markets) as one cause of this decline. Residents, especially small farmers, interested in diversifying agricultural production are limited by inadequate extension services and credit, and younger residents seek public sector employment. Income diversification has increased livelihoods security; however, future livelihoods will depend on new economic growth. Given the stagnating public sector and a weak industrial sector, production geared toward growing urban markets is a viable means for further income generation in Carvão.

No intuito de contribuir com informações a respeito do impacto da pandemia da Covid-19 no interior do estado do Amazonas, apresentamos um relato de caso da Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Amanã (RDSA), na região do Médio Solimões. O objetivo principal foi investigar os impactos da pandemia no cotidiano de moradores locais, identificando as dificuldades enfrentadas, mudanças nos hábitos alimentares e impactos nas cadeias produtivas. Para obter as informações, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas remotamente com nove integrantes de núcleos familiares de quatro comunidades e uma localidade da RDSA. Além de registrar os impactos, visamos identificar, junto com os interlocutores, ações possíveis para garantir a saúde e bem-estar das famílias e sua capacidade de continuar comercializando sua produção. Ações foram divididas em propostas imediatas para o momento da pandemia e ações de longo prazo. Os resultados mostram que no início da pandemia os moradores ajustaram seus hábitos alimentares e se adaptaram rapidamente às novas recomendações de isolamento social e outras medidas preventivas. Embora os dados apontem para prejuízos no que diz respeito à economia familiar e as cadeias produtivas, os interlocutores trazem propostas inovadoras para enfrentar a crise imediata e promover as cadeias produtivas a longo prazo. Desta forma, os resultados refletem o atributo de flexibilidade tipicamente associada às comunidades ribeirinhas amazônicas. A auto-organização, oportunizada pela criação de redes de colaboração amplas, toma uma dimensão maior, necessária para enfrentar a crise atual na ausência do Estado e na face das desigualdades históricas regionais.  

Before 1950, native Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet) was rather common in the New York Metropolitan area. Celastrus orbiculatus (Oriental bittersweet) was introduced into the region in the late 1800s. Analyses of the distribution of both species since the time of the introduction of C. scandens into the flora indicate that the native C. scandens has declined considerably, while the non-native C. orbiculatus has significantly spread and increased in abundance. Possible reasons for the concomitant decline of C. scandens and spread of C. orbiculatus are discussed.