The Indigenous Territories and Local Sustainable Development in the Amazon Region

Abstract

The Amazon system plays a significant role in the world?s climate and has the largest rainforest on earth. The region is renowned for its incredible biodiversity, both aquatic and terrestrial. This chapter seeks to understand the Amazon dynamics of natural protected areas and indigenous people in relation to the recognition of indigenous territories for sustainable development in Amazonian. Also, we presented the dimensions of territorial management from the perspective of the national state and indigenous territorial governance. In the management of the national territory, we draw attention to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty. In indigenous territorial governance, we highlight the territorialities of people: Ka?apor, Yanomami, Timbira, Achuar, Tikuna, and Piaroa. These are experiences of political autonomy and governance that reflect the organization of community social processes in the Amazon region. The local actions supported or not by the national states have allowed the protection of their habitats, support a spatial continuity to exercise their cultural practices in the territories that they occupy ancestrally and traditionally, which aim to guarantee local cultural development. The use of the resources of the Amazon has multiple visions. However, it should be aimed at sustainable use, considering that natural resources have become a global priority presently and that many political decisions convert the preservation and regeneration of the natural environment. In this sense, the protected natural areas and indigenous territories are presented as a part of effective strategies to contain deforestation, landscape fragmentation, and conserve biodiversity. Finally, the use of resources in the Amazonian territories opens the way a pole of sustainable development from a local perspective targeting global markets, guaranteeing a better quality of life for future generations.