November 9, 2011Assignment # 4 – Tree Debate GEOG 2412Madre de Dios is home to nearly 100,000 indigenous peoples where “forest conservation is a matter of life or death” (Tambopata Reserve Society). More than half of these peoples live in subsistence communities that coexist with the surrounding diverse ecosystems (Tambopata Reserve Society). Capitalist agriculture and deforestation methods have exploited these indigenous societies along with fragile ecosystems that are unlike any other in the world. In orderto maintain ecological well-being and not displace thousands of peoples, the Tambopata rainforest must be preserved and autonomy must be achieved for the local tribes. As the political leader of the Local Federation of Native Peoples of Madre de Dios (FENAMAD) I propose that the tropical rainforest of the Tambopata region be restored to the indigenous peoples of the land for sustainable use including locally managed ecotourism, small-scale mining production, and subsistence farming and hunting. From an ecocentric perspective, the rainforests of Tambopata should be exceedingly valued as they provide one of the most varied ecosystems in the world. Humans cannot live without these carbon-sequestering regions, and preserving them will benefit the globe as a whole. Deforestation for soybean production or oil-drilling is a capital-intensive, anthropocentricideology that neglects the interconnectedness between people, wildlife, and bionetworks. Practices of these mega-corporations include the deforestation of old-growth forests dislocating valuable animal species; for example, destruction of the forest floodplains, which house 50% of the Tambopata region’s bird species, results in thousands of habitat-less birds which endangers their welfare (Alvarez and Naughton-Treves p 273). Furthermore, this anthropocentric view of tree and land management disregards a “rights-of-nature approach,” or the acknowledgement thattrees are not capable of defending themselves and therefore require legal means to defend them (Robbins et al p 177). Indigenous groups, similarly, lack a political voice enabling large corporations to engage in “capitalist agriculture”, a practice that displaces and dramatically burdens my people and the rainforests (Robbins et al p 173).Market-based approaches, utilized by soybean and oil producers, often endorse the “Forest Transition Model” as a means to justify deforestation (Robbins et al p 171). This theory states that the overuse of forests now, will eventually subside as the market will undoubtedlyadjust leading to reforestation and recovery (Robbins et al p 171); however, the “Forest Transition Model” is not true as witnessed in the unevenness of forest regrowth from place to place (Robbins et al p 174). Additionally, studies have shown that “secondary forests can only partly replace the ecological and economic services provided by primary forests,” which means newer forests are neither as biodiverse nor as rich in natural resources as original ecosystems (Alvarez and Naughton-Treves p 273). It also takes a lengthy amount of time for any forest to return to its climax canopy. Capitalist agriculture (mass-industrialized agriculture chiefly produced for economic gain) is unsustainable and exploits indigenous people and the environment; it also enhances uneven development (Robbins et al p 175). The process of mass agriculture is imposed by the Global North upon less-developed nations in the Global South, implying that Peru and other developing Latin American countries are inferior in the global theater. With the viewpoint that developing nations are entities to be managed by wealthier countries, it seems highly unlikely that developing nations will ever be addressed as equals to developed nations. Therefore, non-government organizations (NGOs) and corporations should leave the Tambopata region to its native peoples to manage, allowing developing nations to decide their own methods of growth and development. It is my duty as the leader of FENAMAD to gain political recognition for my native people and in turn maintain control over our native, rainforest lands. Foreign companies and NGOs do not respect the ecosystems that have existed in Peru and only uphold economic values and anthropocentric thinking. If left up to the soybean growers, the gold miners, or the oil-drillers the Tambopata region would all but disappear. The indigenous people of Madre de Dios should reclaim and sustain the land they have inhabited for thousands of years, preserving an essential carbon reservoir which will benefit global well-being.Works CitedAlvarez, Nora L., and Lisa Naughton-Treves. "Linking National Agrarian Policy to Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon: A Case Study of Tambopata, 1986-1997." Ambio 32.4 (2003): 273. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, June 2003. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ambio.kva.se>.Robbins, Paul, John Hintz, and Sarah A. Moore. "Trees – Chapter 5." Environment and Society. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 168-177. Print."Tambopata Reserve Society - Introduction to the Area." WTS Online. Tambopata Reserve Society. Web. 09 Nov. 2011.