Governance and Deforestation: Understanding the Role of Formal Rule-Acknowledgement by Residents in Brazilian Extractive Reserves

Brazil has one of the most extensive and effective sets of deforestation control policies in the world. One of the main deforestation control policies implemented by the Brazilian government over the last 15 years has been the creation of an extensive system of protected areas, including extractive reserves. Our study addresses the challenges of reducing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. We analyze the role of institutions in controlling deforestation, focusing on the formal rules contained within the Management Agreements of extractive reserves. We chose two extreme cases: the Rio Ouro Preto Extractive Reserve and the Rio Cautario Extractive Reserve, in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. Within each case, we analyzed the association between the recognition of the formal rules and the extent of deforestation. We collected data through eight focus groups, with a total of 61 reserve residents, which used a didactic story to understand reserve residents’ familiarity with the Management Agreement rules. In both cases, there was high recognition of the formal rules governing natural resource use in the reserves, although there was heterogeneity among communities and in the mechanisms that facilitate recognition. The factors contributing to the recognition and non-recognition of the formal rules by reserve residents included: learning strategies (theoretical and practical); speed of institutional change; rules content (ambiguous and not well-adapted); endogenous factors (e.g. leadership, relationships); and exogenous factors (e.g. economic change, conflict and pressures).