A Look at Amazon Basin Seasonal Dynamics with the Biophysical ...

Amazonia as a shared space: the case of “Brasivianos” along the frontier betweenAcre, Brazil and Pando, Bolivia.Benedita M.G. Esteves 1 , Paulo R.N. Ferreira 2 , and Hudisley. S. de Oliveira 2 .1 Coordinator of the research group Society and Environment and professor of theHistory Department of the Federal University of Acre, Rio Branco, AC, Brazil.benedita_esteves@uol.com.br2 Student research intern of the History Department, Federal University of Acre, RioBranco, AC, BrazilThis research is part of a set of studies on migrations in the frontier regions ofsouthwestern Amazonia, specifically in extractive regions of Acre State/Brazil, PandoDepartment/Bolivia and Madre de Dios Department/Peru. The results of our case studyof Brazilians that migrate to Pando alters the current perception of Amazonia, one wheregeopolitical definitions of space define national territories but are without socioenvironmentalcontent. The manner that the concept of the Amazonian region has beenused reduces one of the basic notions of social sciences -- that of space – to a locality, asif Amazonia was a restricted region of Brazil, omitting the extensive area of contiguousforests that occur in neighboring countries. Such a geopolitical appropriation does nottake into account the network of relations within the region established among residentpopulations. Amerindians, caboclos, river bank dwellers, and extractivists define theirterritories using existing natural resources. These populations create their proper nations.The rubber tapper nation is one of them, defined by the relationship of man and nature.This study focuses on Brazilian rubber tappers as they seek land and work in the Pando-Acre region and their migrations between extractive areas and urban peripheries.Approximately 6000 Brazilian families have resided in the Bolivian Pando. Recentgeopolitical decisions and economic trends have resulted in a migration to urbanenvironments with three families a day arriving in the urban center of Brasileia on theBolivian border. The reality of this situation has great importance for regional publicpolicy, particularly for municipal education programs.