Authors: Thiago Cardoso, Fbio Pedro Bandeira, Jocimara Lobo & Isabel Modercn

EUROPEAN

POLICY BRIEF
Socio-environmental conflict analysis and
the implications for public policy design
and environmental management
The policy implications of COMBIOSERVE, an EU-funded research
project in community-based conservation in Latin America
January 2015
Ongoing project

INTRODUCTION

May, 2013

The adoption of economic and legal models that prioritize

developmentalist policies and neo-extractivist initiativesi, and/or
environmental conservation models that restrict human presence,
have generated great social and environmental impacts for the
ecosystems and territories of rural and indigenous peoples in
several countries in Latin America. The latter has generated
conflicts regarding the access to space and natural resource use.

Main Focus

Despite the existence of norms, regulations and instruments that

recognize rights and consultation processes, such as Federal
Constitutions and international conventions (see ILO 169), many
communities state that their opinions, perspectives and decisions
regarding participating in productive or research projects (about
setting up of a project) or the negative impact of one already in
existence, are not sufficiently considered, intensifying resistance
and conflicts.
The focus of this Policy Brief is to present general concepts around
the theme of socio-environmental conflicts. To explore specific
contexts and delineate and recommend both mechanisms for an
analysis and understanding of conflicts and forms of resolution that
involve indigenous peoples. We use the Brazilian case in the
COMBIOSERVE Project as an example.

What is socioenvironmental conflict?

The concept of conflict is associated with disputes about power (the

capacity to generate effects). In particular, conflicts acquire an
environmental dimension when social groups with differing forms of
appropriation of territories confer different meanings and claims, of a
space or resource. Conflict originates when a group that has used a
particular territory is threatened by an undesirable impact resulting
from the activities and practices of other groups or other people from
the same group. Other conflicts may also emerge when people do
not have long-term rights to a territory.

2.

| EUROPEAN POLICY BRIEF

INTRODUCTION

In summary, socio-environmental conflicts refer to a complex set of

confrontations between different sectors of society that have arisen
because of their distinct inter-relationships with ecological systems.
Conflict goes beyond a focus restricted to political and economic
clashes to incorporate divergent sociocultural elements related to
cosmology, ritual, identity and morality. It must, therefore, be
approached in a multi- and inter-disciplinary fashion.

General trends in socioenvironmental conflicts

The current scientific literature indicates certain general trends or

typologies in relation to socio-environmental conflicts. These are
listed below:
1. Conflicts related to water resources appear to be the greatest
source of direct local, national and international conflict. The most
common environmental elements from which conflict may emerge
are water flow, recreation, salinization, flooding, pollution and
transport.
2. Direct and indirect national and international conflicts are
commonly caused by problems related to the depletion of resources
deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, flooding and mining.
3. Other conflicts include agrarian conflicts and the immigration
produced by environmental policies, such as the creation of
protection areas that overlap with the territories of indigenous
peoples and traditional communities (or the creation of industries?).
4. Empirical evidence for all these categories suggests that the vast
majority of socio-environmental conflicts occurs in so-called
developing regions. Future climate change will also promote
or/and aggravate socio-environmental conflicts in large parts of the
globe.

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EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS

Socio-environmental
conflicts and development
projects

Recent evidence for Latin America shows a notable expansion of

conflicts centred around a range of environmental problems, with
mining attracting the most publicity. One example is the thousands
of mining requests filed at the National Department of Mining
Research (Departamento Nacional de Pesquisa Mineraria) in Brazil,
involving indigenous landsii.
In this country, serious attempts are being made in the National
Congress to permit the access of mining on such lands. There have
also been several attempts to appropriate the territories and
resources (biodiversity, water) of indigenous and traditional peoples
by the agro-industrial sector.
Although there are parallels with what has taken place in the USA,
where environmental movements have begun to emerge, the
situation in the Latin American case is different: claims are allied to
profound social, ethnic and economic marginalization, as well as to
the strong sense of territoriality of the groups involved. iii
These conflicts are born out from a historical situation of racism and
prejudice, as well as through the installation of development
projects, the creation of protected areas, regimes for the comanagement of ecosystems or resources, and the claims for
territorial rights and environmental justice put forward by indigenous
and local populations.
The largest project in Brazil responsible for expediting growth is the
Growth Acceleration Programme (Programa de Acelerao do
Crescimento: PAC), which is linked to the Initiative for the
Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA).
Over a few years, this program aims to transfer sizeable financial
resources and provide infrastructure and legal facilities (or
deregulation) for the advancement of activities generating conflicting
issues. Some of the activities relate to:
The expansion of areas for soybean and (agro) bio-fuel cultivation
and for livestock breeding, in the Cerrado and the Amazon, as well
as eucalyptus cultivation in the Atlantic Forest;

The relaxation of rules for the cultivation

commercialization of genetically modified seeds;

Planning and implementation for the construction of

hydroelectric plants and roads and the transposition of
rivers;

The construction of ports and roads systems in sensitive

ecosystems, such as forests and mangroves, and in areas of
artisanal fishing and extractivism;

Incentives for mining and petroleum and gas exploration in

protected areas and on traditional and indigenous peoples
territories.

and

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Indigenous Territories and

Protected Areas: overlaps
The rights of indigenous peoples and afrobrasilian rural
communities (quilombolas) in Brazil are enshrined in the 1988
Federal Constitution and the International Labour Organization
Convention (ILO 169), which guarantees that the territories
traditionally occupied by these peoples remain for their exclusive
use. In addition to such legal frameworks, traditional and indigenous
peoples rely on specific policies and legislation which support
compliance of their rights, in particular when there is overlap with
protected areas.

Figure
1:
Overlap
between
Indigenous Lands and Conservation
Units in Brazil

More than 800,000 indigenous peoples live in Brazil, belonging to

238 indigenous ethnic groups, speaking approximately 180
languages and inhabiting 684 indigenous lands, corresponding to
approximately 12% of the national territory, as well as living in
several municipal urban areas around the countryiv.
Of these, 60% of the population is located in the Amazon region,
where more than 95% of the total lands set aside for indigenous
peoples are concentrated, while others are distributed across tiny
areas in the NE, SE and South, with a large population contingent
and conflicts of several types and sizes.
Dozens of other
indigenous territories are undergoing the process of recognition,
which also fuels large-scale land conflicts.
One of the main challenges for environmental and indigenous policy
in Brazil and for socio-environmental management strategies may
be seen in several cases where protected nature conservation
areas overlap with indigenous territories.

Figure 2: Expansion of the

agricultural frontier and buffering
by Indigenous Lands and
Conservation Units

It is estimated that about 25% of Brazilian Federal protected areas

overlap with indigenous lands (Figure 1); about 55 cases have been
mapped. These numbers do not take into account the diverse
communities and territories that have not been identified and
demarcated. Overlaps have led to several conflicts.
It is widely recognized that, due to their traditional practices for the
handling and management of land, the territories of indigenous
peoples are not only essential for the physical, cultural and
economic sustainability of these peoples, but are also extremely
important for the conservation of Brazilian biomasses.
In several regions, notably in the Amazon, Conservation Units and
Indigenous Lands have operated jointly as barriers to the
advancement of deforestation (Figure 2).

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Can the mapping and

analysis of socioenvironmental conflicts
help to prevent/resolve
these conflicts?

Countless applications of different tools for both analysis

and socio-environmental conflict resolution have been
developed in Latin America over the last three decades.
Given the plurality of conflicting situations involving
indigenous peoples, several methodological instruments for
resolution exist, but they are not readily available in
manuals or roadmaps for analysis.

Within the context of the COMBIOSERVE Project, through a

process of co-research, certain instruments were used to
analyse territorial and environmental conflicts. These
included ethnomapping, analysis of actors networks
(sociograms), and focus groups for storytelling analysis.
These activities were carried out in order to support a group
of indigenous Patax researchers from Monte Pascoal and
the Jaqueira Reserve for generating data for dealing with
certain conflicts (recognition of territorial rights, monoculture
eucalyptus plantations, river pollution).

There is a multiplicity of tool boxes for analysinig

conflicting situations. The used methodology aimed at
understanding and mapping conflicts, recording the
typology of the actors involved, the genesis and history of
problems, the natural resources and spaces in dispute, the
desires and intentions of actors, and the extent, depth and
local means of resolution. The studies also seeked to
indicate pathways for the resolution of conflicts or the
provision of evidence regarding situations and actors that
were not previously visible.

An analysis of the separate actors and elements that

intervene in a conflict is an essential step in designing
processes for negotiating solution and drawing up legal and
political agreements or procedures.

A general criticism of many of the conventional processes

for dealing with conflicting situations is that they generally
are negotiated and viewed through arenas and procedures
for mediation and mitigation of confrontations, with no
possibility for the affected groups to veto projects that affect
their territories or to participate in decision-making
processes.

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Results presented at the International Conference on

Conflict
Resolution,
Peace-Building,
Sustainable
Development and Indigenous Peoples, held in Manila in
2000, highlighted several customary conflict resolution
methods, both within and between communities.

Such systems of conflict resolution are anchored in

knowledge, a construction of theories about the world, and
a range of political modes and social organisations, which
generally seek agreements and consensus for the
restoration of relationships. These types of local conflict
resolution mechanisms must be strengthened. However, it
is important to consider whether the community modus
operandi always provides satisfactory results.

Chart 1 in the following section presents a range of tools

utilized in a number of initiatives to analyse conflicts in Latin
America, in particular in Brazil and in the COMBIOSERVE
project. It also demonstrates the objectives and application
of each tool.

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Chart 1: Tools used in a variety of initiatives to analyse conflicts in Latin America

Analysis of
Conflict

Tools

Descriptive
analysis

Multi-actor and multisited ethnography

Objectives/Methodology

Participatory
Mapping

Ethno-mapping

Social Cartography

Collaborative maps

Geotechnology

Analysis of
Networks

Sociogram

Venn diagram

Analysis of Public
Arenas

Focus groups

Ethnographic understanding in studies carried out with a range of multi-sited

human and non-human actors involved in a conflict. This involves an
understanding of knowledge, practices and power relations.
This method does not assume a researcher neutrality, but direct participation
in the conflict alongside the affected groups.
The practice of collectively or individually mapping the territory, environments
and resources used by a collective, based on knowledge, cosmology and
indigenous categories regarding the mapped phenomena.
These maps may be used for the demarcation and management of territories,
the definition of areas used, the resolution of conflicts regarding access to
resources and the historical visualization of changes to the landscape.
Ethno-maps may or may not be produced using geotechnology, or with or
without the assistance of external advisors.
Assumes the formation of a focus group and the use of participatory
geotechnology by indigenous peoples
The production of themed maps for a number of social groups situated in
different geographic locations using an online platform. The maps aim to
explain conflicts that involve several collectives.
The potential to mobilize collectives and influence public policy on a large
scale.
They require technical knowledge and support from an online platform, as well
as knowledge, for the collective insertion of data.
The analysis of maps using satellite images and geotechnical resources.
The potential to analyse a large volume of quantitative data regarding socialspatial dynamics.
In general, they require technical language and skills that hinder both
production and access by the affected social groups.
Designing social networks that characterize the actors involved in the
conflicts, the degree and type of their relationships with the affected social
group.
A focus group that designs the network, critically describing the multiple
relationships, visualizing the conflict as a whole and the interests involved.
Facilitates the establishment of alliances and the promotion of agreements.
The participation of mediators/facilitators is important.
Relation charts that permit the visualization and analysis of relationships
between institutions with respect to the proximity and distance of the social
theme/groups of analysis and the relevance of the institution.
This takes place through focus groups and reflections may occur during the
production of the chart about the existing relationships between the institution
and the theme/affected group. The participation of mediators/facilitators is
important.
Meeting of a group of people interested in collectively discussing a theme
related to the conflict.
May be conducted with a group affected by a policy or business or with a
series of actors involved in a conflict, in order to undertake joint analysis and
achieve possible agreements. The participation of mediators/facilitators is
important.

Formal councils
Public audiences

Historic analysis

Storyline

Oral history

Meetings arranged by public authorities to deal with the public assessment of

specific themes that motivate conflicts, such as the creation of a protected
areas, the implementation of a management plan or the installation of a large
infrastructure enterprise.
Generally, these meetings are consultative, serving as arenas for the
legitimization of projects and agreements, ratifying previously made decisions.
Tracing the historical trajectory of a social group, collective or community,
featuring the actors, events and consequences of impact and socioenvironmental conflicts.
Interviews with individuals on their life stories, seeking to record various life
phases and link these with the impact and conflicts experienced by the
informant. A series of interviews derives in a historical analysis of the conflict.

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Overlap between Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas: an example of analysis and
resolution of conflicts from Brazil
The overlap between the Monte Pascoal National Park and the Patax territory, one of the COMBIOSERVE project
study sites in the South of Bahia, is a symbolic case of conflict between the state and the Patax people regarding
their land and indigenous communal forms of territorial management (Figure 3). We used several instruments for
analysis including: Formal councils meetings; Focus groups; and Ethno-mapping. The case put forward by the
indigenous Patax people proposed a solution to the impasse, using these tools for analysis.
The creation of the Park in the 1940s and its implementation from 1961 onwards restricted indigenous access to
the area and to its plant and wildlife resources.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the Patax managed, through
an agreement between an environmental organization and
the federal governments indigenous body, to regulate a
small portion of their lands in Barra Velha, their mother
village. The Patax did not accept this demarcation, which
was made in an area that had soils that where inappropriate
for farming and no access to the mangroves, placing them in
a situation of confinement and thereby intensifying conflicts.
At the end of the 1990s, the Patax reclaimed the centre of
the Park.
A process of negotiation began regarding the creation of the
Patax indigenous land and the maintenance of the National
v
Park. Numerous national (SNUC, PNAP, PNGATI) and
international legal instruments (ILO 169; CBD) were used to
deal with the overlap between indigenous territories and the
National Parks, as well as instruments to manage the
conflicts: economic incentives within the projects (e.g.
Integrated Conservation and Development Projects: ICDPs).
From this point onward, several agreements and projects
have been put forward by environmental agencies and local
and international NGOs. Many of these processes have not
been successful in resolving conflicts; some have even
provoked internal conflicts.
One issue was the Ministry of the Environment/FAO Project
for the environmental management of the National Park,
which proposed reforestation activities and support for
production activities, notably farming based on agroecology.
This project was implemented without the real consensus of
the indigenous population and did not achieve the expected
results.
Following a critical evaluation of the Project, an Ethnomapping of the indigenous communities was conducted. The
ethno-mapping led to other collaborative processes between
the Indigenous and the ethnologists, such as the drafting of
vi
the Aragwaks Territorial management plan of the Patax
of Monte Pascoal, setting out the proposals of the Pataxs
for the conservation of the forests and the management of
the environment. The Patax plan was placed on the
negotiating table and has contributed to the regularization of
their territory and the formation of an agreement - which had
been partial - and is thus making progress in dealing with the
overlap.

Figure 3: Protected Areas and Patax indigenous lands

in the south of Bahia, Brazil, featuring the Monte
Pascoal National Park

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PUBLIC POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Guidelines for the

analysis and
resolution/prevention of
socio-environmental
conflicts

Promote the analysis of knowledge generation by analysing socioenvironmental conflicts in order to support the claims, formulation
and implementation of public policies that take into consideration
the various agents in conflict.

Create a space for dialogue, which takes into account indigenous

peoples and local communities knowledge and cosmology or
world view, as well as their modes of understanding and solving
conflicting situations, their institutions and customary norms. This
dialogue context may use various conflict analysis instruments
(see Chart 1) in order to have a greater chance for achieving
positive results.

Provide guidance for the convergence of interests or the resolution

of conflicts. The assessment of cases of overlap between
Indigenous Lands and Protected Areas must not restrict itself to
the conflicts and contradictions arising from status and the different
objectives of each type of land use, but must also provide
guidance for the convergence of interests or the resolution of
conflicts.

The reduction of conflicts resulting from local, regional and national

development projects may be achieved through the effective
participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in
discussions about such projects, their possible impacts and
measures for mitigation, with full rights to reject the advancement
of a particular project.

The public audience mechanism, required by law for the licensing

of major works in Brazil, has demonstrably not been effective,
since the actors are not sufficiently or clearly informed in advance
and the prevailing language is technical and scientific. Prior
consultation mechanisms must be regulated, must include full
dialogue between parties and allow for the possibility that the
affected population will not accept a specific enterprise, with
binding effects, thus avoiding conflicts.

Businesses and government bodies involved should ensure the

adequate translation / explanation of the results of Environmental
Impact Studies / Environmental Impact Reports in a language
accessible to local communities and in line with their accumulated
knowledge and experience regarding the ecological systems under
investigation.

Social, environmental and development policies must be in

dialogue so that programmes that promote social justice,
environmental
conservation
and
biodiversity
are
not
countermanded by programmes/projects for energy development,
mining, infrastructure, agribusiness and others.

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PROJECT IDENTITY

Coordinator

Dr. Christian Vogl

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria BOKU

Consortium

Dr. Esteve Corbera, Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, Spain

Dr. Mark Koetse, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Dr. Luciana Porter-Bolland, Instituto de Ecologa, Mexico
Dr. Fabio Bandeira, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana,
Brazil
Dr. Susana Arrazola, Universidad Mayor de San Simn, Bolivia
Mr. Albert M. Chan, Consejo Regional Indgena y Popular de
Xpujil, Mexico
Ms. Sarah Miranda, Associao Nacional de Ao Indigenista,
Brazil
Dr. Tomas Huanca, Centro Boliviano de Desarrollo y de
Investigacin Socio Integral, Bolivia

EU contact

Ugo Guarnacci. Email: ugo.guarnacci@ec.europa.eu

Funding scheme

European Union 7th Framework Programme, Research for the

benefit of CSOs, Theme: ENV.2011.4.2.3-1 Community based
management of environmental challenges.

Duration

January 2012 January 2015

Budget

Contribution EC: 1,897,883.40

Website

www.combioserve.org

For more information

Dr. Fbio Pedro S. de F. Bandeira E-mail: fpbandeira@gmail.com

Further reading

Fbio Bandeira, Thiago Cardoso, Isabel Modercn & Jocimara

Lobo (orgs.). Participatory mapping: reflections, paths and trails.
Ed. Mil Folhas. Braslia. 2015. In press.

ii

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http://ti.socioambiental.org/pt-br/#!/pt-br/brasil (in Portuguese).

iii

Reboratti, Carlos. Socio-environmental conflicts in Latin America. Journal of Latin American

Geography, Special issue. 2012.
iv

http://pib.socioambiental.org/en

SNUC - National system of conservation units (Sistema nacional de unidades de conservao); PNAP
- Strategic national plan for protected areas (Plano estratgico nacional de reas protegidas); PNGATI National policy on territorial and environmental management of indigenous lands (Poltica nacional de
gesto territorial e ambiental de terras indgenas).
vi

Cardoso, T. et al. Aragwaks: plano de gesto territorial Patax. Braslia, FUNAI-DEDOC, 2012.