MamirauáThere's a magical place in the Brazilian Amazonian flooded forests called MAMIRAUÁ, the local indigenous word for baby manatee.

Mamirauá was the first Reserve for Sustainable Development (MRSD) established in Brazil and was named after an astonishingly beautiful lake in the heart of the reserve.

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By Marco Bueno

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map 1 MRSD’s location

By SociedadeCivil Mamirauá, Plano de Manejo1996

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MRSD, a 11,000-km2 conservation unit, is the only one in the world to protect a complex ecosystem formed exclusively by flooded forests, a highly productive environment with a unique ecological and cultural importance. MRSD is part of the largest protected tropical forest corridor in the world (55,000 km2), formed by two other units (Amanã RSD and Jaú National Park) in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. MRSD was aimed at combining research for biodiversity conservation and sustainable management with the active participation and social and economic development of local riverine populations.

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Objective

My objective is to briefly describe Mamirauá case to try to relate the existence of a transnational "epistemic community" and initiatives of conservation and sustainable uses of biodiversity at local level. Mamirauá seems to me as a example of new ways of implementing public policy which links global and local, governmental and non governmental actors, scientists and activists, as well as environment and development.

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Here I delineate some very preliminary conclusions of an ongoing research about networks and innovative experiences in conservation and sustainable uses of biodiversity in Brazil. I am arguing for an expansion of Peter Haas' (1992) approach about the relation between an epistemic community1 and the creation of international environmental regimes, to encompass other levels of political action. Also, I am looking for answers to Ernst Haas' question (1990, p. 20) about the way scientific 1 a network of professionals with a recognised expertise and competence in a particular domain and an authoritative claim to policy relevant knowledge within that domain or issue area (HAAS, Peter M. “Introduction: epistemic communities and international policy coordination”, International Organization, 46, 1, Winter 1992, pp 1-35)

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knowledge is transferred from academic scenes to political processes.

Mamirauá as a group of scientists' initiative: a network and networking.

The establishment of MRSD and the creation of both, an NGO (Sociedade Civil Mamirauá- SCM) and an "social organisation" (Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development-IDSM), are results of Mamirauá Project, an initiative by a group of scientists. The group of scientists' trajectory to Mamirauá is far from being linear. It can be

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depicted as a web of relations and partnerships, that go beyond the original group. Mamirauá stands today for a much more comprehensive concept: it brings to one's mind the idea of a network of people that are linked in different ways and levels: local, regional, national and global through similar views and objectives.

Two innovative aspects brought by Mamirauá network stands out: (i) the successful combination of research, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development with local people's participation, and (ii) the ingenious

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and complex social, political, legal, institutional and financial arrangements to support such purpose. The role of research in the proposal to create MRSD

Since the beginning, scientific research has been one of the tools to elaborate the proposal to set the protected area, as well as its management plan, and it continues to play a major role in the monitoring of the Reserve. However, research can also be considered an engine that

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contributed to mobilise some of the main actors in the net.

A field research project on white uakari monkeys (Cacajao calvus calvus), back in 1983-84, inspired both biologist Marcio Ayres and wildlife photographer Luiz Marigo to propose the creation of an ecological station in Mamirauá. But, the idea was not new. It already appeared in an article by Márcio Ayres and Robin Best2 in 1979. The area had been pointed by Mittermeier and 2 Article: Ayres, J.M. & Best, R., "Estratégias para conservação da Fauna Amazônica", Suplemento Acta Amazonica 9(4), 1979:81-101

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Coimbra Filho3 in 1977 as the restrict distribution range of and uakari monkeys, considered a vulnerable sub-species

While the choice of Mamirauá is probably related to the work of primatologists, allowing human presence within the Reserve may have a relation with the anthropological research by Déborah Lima about caboclos

3 Article: Mittermeier, R.A. & Coimbra-Filho, A.F, Primate Conservation in Brazilian Amazonia, In: Primate Conservation, Ed by Prince Rainier and Bourne, 5, 1977: 117-166

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Thus, we could say that Biologist Márcio Ayres and Anthropologist Deborah Lima's experiences in Mamiraua both as researchers and residents, who got to know locals and the várzea ecosystem very well, inspired and backed up the initial design of the MRSD's concept. Mamirauá process: the power of ideas and networks

A transnational network of primatologists and other Amazonian-oriented researchers, who had similar ideas about biodiversity conservation and the need not to exclude local populations from

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the process, contributed by bringing financial support from their institutions and acceptance among conservationists world wide.

Mamirauá Project then started with the financial support of important international NGOs such as Conservation International (CI), WWF-UK and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). More importantly, that move gave credibility to that bold and pioneer proposal. Probably this fact helped to convince the British international co-

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operation agency (former ODA, now DFID) to fund most part of the project in its first phase and continuing to fund its second one.

In one word, the initial group of biologists and anthropologists created SCM to carry on the project and so established partnerships in different levels: regional (OEMA of Amazonas state), federal (CNPq), international (UK governmental agency) and global (NGOs: CI, WCS, WWF-UK). The project and the needed

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partnerships were backed up by the mentioned network of people. This and the original content of the proposal, which reflected their shared views and similar backgrounds, made all the difference.

Importance of not excluding local populations and of considering local networks.

A team of sociologists and anthropologists identified local leaders and the people linked to

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movements and organisations of the catholic church, so called "Prelazia de Tefé", which already had actions related to community organisation and a movement for lake preservation. These people also operated as a network. They lived in different localities, belonged to different parishes, but knew each other through the Prelazia, had similar views and were involved in its actions.Anthropologists and sociologists together with the local Prelazia network contributed to "root" the idea of Mamirauá locally. It is still early to know how deep it is rooted, however, that is

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condition sine qua non for Mamirauá to remain. It brings to mind the dilemma of biodiversity preservation and conservation: people cannot be excluded as they are part of the environment, but how to implement policies with such an integrative view is still an open question, as only time can tell how effective the policy was.

Mamirauá Project: to orchestrate individual interests and idealism towards biodiversity conservation and sustainable development

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It has been a combination of individual interests and idealism that has motivated researchers and professionals to spend a short or long period of their lives, working for Mamirauá. Such combination helps to hold together different people from local communities, Tefé and surroundings, other parts of Amazon and Brazil as well as other countries.

Results

The main result is the change in the way of doing biodiversity conservation without exclusion of the

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locals. When Mamirauá was created, the idea that it represented was new and not shared by all conservationists. It was a step in a paradigm shift that is still being consolidated.

To be able to implement such idea, the encounter of the transnational network of researchers with the local network of people was fundamental. In ten years (1991-2001), there have been many positive outcomes that make the name Mamirauá well known among conservationist, scientists, environmentalists in general, and

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policy makers in Brazil and world wide. Much research was done, which resulted in the management plan as well as publications and thesis. Many of the communities within and around the focal area of the Reserve are now politically organised and start to speak for themselves. Some life quality indicators have been improved. Fish stocks, the populations of cayman, turtle, some birds and other animals have increased in parts of the Reserve.

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