Central Amazon Floodplain: Actual Use and Options for a Sustainable Management

The book presents a coherent analysis of the ecological situation, the history of land occupation, the different forms of resource utilization, the socio-economic situation of the population, & the ecological threats of human activities on the Amazon floodplain. Cost-benefit analyses of different forms of land use are compared with market demands & environmental impacts. Conflicts of interest between different stake holders (e.g., smallholders & ranchers, professional & subsistence fishermen) are described. A chapter about environmental legislation & its deficiencies points to the need for additional regulations to avoid further conflicts of interest & negative impact of human activities on the ecosystem. This is the first book that deals with sustainable management of a tropical wetland with coherent & new data sets in an interdisciplinary approach, along with a strong conceptional background.