Month: April 2018

The new dynamics of de­for­est­a­tion in Brazil

Associate Professor Markus Kröger’s presentation is about the current dynamics of deforestation, forest degradation, and sustainability of forest and forestry policies in different parts of Brazil. The focus is at presenting the findings from fresh field research in 2017-2018 on the different causes of rising deforestation in different regions. The example of the iconic Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve in Acre illustrates the power of cattle-ranching as the key driver of deforestation, even inside conservation areas. The politics of the rapidly expanding “sustainable logging cooperatives” – which have serious impacts on forest degradation, and do not typically deliver their promises – in the multiple-use conservation areas of the Santarém region in Pará are discussed to illustrate how the powerful illegal loggers still operate and take over many developmental schemes. Finally, the role of Finnish and Brazilian forestry industry in continuing deforestation and expansion of eucalyptus plantations through practices that include illegal land grabbing and violence in Bahia are discussed based on field research in the area since 2004. The politics that aim to create sustainable forest policies, and offer alternatives, are also discussed.

Markus Kröger is an Associate Professor and Docent in Development Studies at the University of Helsinki, the focus area of the tenure track position being the study of the political economy of development and natural resource extraction. Most of his research has focused on investment politics around large-scale projects in the forestry and metal industries, including the study of state-corporate-civil society relations, particularly in South America and India. He is the author of Contentious Agency and Natural Resource Politics (2013), and has published several papers on the sustainability of forest and forestry policies in different countries.

Welcome on Friday 20 April at 11:30-12:30 at HELSUS Hub at Porthania (2nd floor), Yliopistonkatu 3.

Professor Lahcen Kabiri, University of Meknès-Errachidia: “Revitalizing the past: ecological knowledge and khettarat hydraulic systems in Morocco”.

Prof. Lahcen Kabiri works on groundwater and traditional management of water resources in arid lands, and on Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) in Morocco. He has done research on climate/ecological and social changes in the Oases of the Tafilalet region, documented in several published articles, and carries out consultancy work for various international organizations, including FAO, UNDP, UNESCO/MAB and the EU. He is also the president of a local association based in Ferkla oasis (Association Oasis Ferkla pour l´environnement et le patrimoine), engaged in various types of community development project and in direct assistance to marginalized groups (including pastoralists). His current research-action project aims to restore and revitalize antique structures of groundwater irrigation (khettarat), which were abandoned during the last mechanization decades that have caused groundwater depletion and socio-ecological degradation. A few are still in function, such as the khattarats of the ICCA of Tighfert oasis. The problem goes beyond the technical operation, as it involves societal and ecological organizations mediating traditional structures with multiple changes.

Welcome on Friday 20 April at 12:30-13:00 at HELSUS Hub at Porthania (2nd floor), Yliopistonkatu 3.