Crime and Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest

Door Tim Boekhout van Solinge, Universiteit Utrecht

Referent: Fabio de Castro

The Amazon Rainforest is by far the largest tropical rainforest on the planet that sprawls across nine countries. It represents some 40% of the remaining tropical rainforest. Around 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been deforested since the 1960s. 80% of this deforested occurred in Brazil, where two-third of the total Amazon Rainforest is found. A large part of the deforestation in the Amazon is actually illegal. It thus concerns crime. This illegal deforestation is also connected to other forms of crime, such as violence and corruption. The violence is committed against forest inhabitants, as well as against environmental or human rights protectors. The perpetrators are usually large landholders, or pistoleros (gunmen), who act on their behalf. In his lecture, Tim Boekhout van Solinge approaches Amazonian deforestation from a (green) criminological perspective. Although it is rare to take a criminological perspective on Amazonian deforestation, there is every reason to do so, considering the many associated crimes and harms. The main focus will be on the Brazilian Amazon, in particular the lower Amazon (near the town of Santarém in Pará state), where he has been doing research as part of NWO-funded project on conflicts and cooperation on natural resources (CoCooN). The presentation will also be visual, as he will show some pictures and short films.