Researching Illegal Logging and Deforestation · Interpol, illegal logging accounts for 15‐30 per cent of the global forestry volume. The economic value of illegal logging is estimated

www.crimejusticejournal.comIJCJ&SD2014Vol3No2:36‐49 ISSN2202–8005

©TheAuthor(s)2014

ResearchingIllegalLoggingandDeforestation

TimBoekhoutvanSolingeUtrechtUniversity,TheNetherlands

Abstract

TropicaldeforestationsuchasintheAmazoncanbestudiedwellfromagreencriminologicalperspective. Ethnographic research methods form a useful way to get insight into thedynamicsandcomplexityoftropicaldeforestation,whichoftenisillegal.ThisarticlegivesanaccountofvariousethnographicvisitstotherainforestsoftheAmazonintheperiod2003‐2014.Ethnographicmethodsprovide insight intotheoverlapbetweenthe legaland illegal,the functioning (or not) of state institutions, the power of (corporate) lobbies, and whytropical deforestation correlates with crimes such as corruption and violence. The use ofethnographicmethodsinforestareaswheretrustworthystateactorsandinstitutionsarenotverypresentcanalsopresentdangerandraiseethicalissues(suchaswhentheresearcher,for reasons of safety, does not present as a criminological researcher). However, a largeadvantage of ethnographic visits to tropical rainforests is that they allow the gathering oflocalviewsandvoices,whichrarelyreachthe international level.Theselocalviews leadtointeresting contradictions at the international level where corporate views and lobbiesdominate.Keywords

Deforestation; deforestation crimes; ethnographic fieldwork; ethnographic methodology;Amazonrainforest.

Introduction

Deadly Environment is a report by Global Witness (2014) on lethal violence againstenvironmental and land defenders.Worldwide, 900 humanswere reported killed during thelastdecadewithalmosthalfofthem,448,occurringinBrazilwhichleadsthelistbyfar.GlobalWitness(2014:19)attributeslandconflictsandillegalloggingasthedrivingforcesbehindthisviolence in Brazil. With ‘the Amazon being the frontier of ... struggle over indigenous andenvironmental rights’, loggersand farmersarepushingeverdeeper into the forest, spawningmanyconflicts.Large‐scaledeforestationintheAmazonRainforestisrelativelyrecent.In1970,only2percentoftheAmazonRainforesthadbeendeforested.Thisgrewto14percentby2000andto20per

TimBoekhoutvanSolinge:ResearchingIllegalLoggingandDeforestation

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centby2009(Loureiro2011:102;Verweijetal.2009:7).Ofthisdeforestation,80percenttookplaceinBrazilwheretwo‐thirdsoftheAmazonRainforestisfound.Some70percentofthedeforestationintheBrazilianAmazonhasbeencausedprimarilybythecreationofcattleranches(Malhietal.2008:169).Landconversionforagriculture,mainlysoy,isthesecondandmorerecentdriverofdeforestation.Bothtypesoflandconversiongohandinhandwith (illegal) logging.Loggers first takeout thevaluablewood, afterwhich the forest isburnt(attheendofthedryseason)andturnedinto‘productive’land.Thethreedeforestationforces combined formanencroaching frontier that slowlybut consistentlydevours chunksofAmazonRainforest.Rates of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon had been decreasing for several years but in2013thisdownwardtrendwassuddenlyreversed.Brazil’sdeforestationratejumpedby28percent in 2013 (as compared to 2012). GlobalWitness (2014) reports that 61 per cent of thisdeforestationoccurredintwoofthestatesworstaffectedbyviolenceagainstactivists:Pará(41percent)andMatoGrosso (20percent).Parástate isa largestate–almost twice thesizeofFrance–locatedinthelower(downstream)Amazon.MatoGrossoislocatedsouthofParáand,although slightly smaller, is still almost four times the size of Great Britain. Mato Grosso’snorthernhalfliesintheAmazonregion;thesouthernhalfhasadriersavannahlandscape.MatoGrossoisBrazil’smainsoyproducingstate–thenation’ssoyheartland–andhasbeenlargelydeforested.Overthelastdecade,theagriculturaldeforestationfrontierhasbeenmovingnorthwardsfromMatoGrosso intoParástateneartheAmazonRiverandthus into theheartof theAmazon. InPará the encroaching frontier of agricultural development manifests itself clearly, andsometimes violently. Because many people live in and around the Amazon rainforest, thedeforestation frontier has led to resistance from locals and environmental activists. ThisexplainswhyPará state has for years had the highest number of land conflicts of all Brazil’sstates.InthewestofParástate,soycultivationhasbeenboththemaindriverofdeforestationandamajorcauseofconflict.TheNetherlandsOrganisationofScientificResearch(NWO)hasaprogrammeonconflictsandnaturalresources(CoCooN)aimedatunderstandingand,inmostcases,alsomitigatingconflictsover natural resources. An innovative element of this programme is that universities form ateamwithnon‐governmentorganisations(NGOs).Withinthisarrangement,Icoordinateateam–theLandsandRights inTroubledWater(LAR)consortium– formedbyacademics fromtheNetherlands, Brazil and Colombia, and NGOs.1 For this project, I spent considerable time inBrazil’sAmazonregion,whereIusedethnographicresearchmethods:observations,interviewsandvisitations.Ialsospentlongerperiodsthereinadditiontothisparticularresearch.The main aim of this contribution is to share some of my ethnographic experiences.Withincriminology,thesetypesofmethodsaremainlyusedbyculturalcriminologists.HowcanI,withreferencetomylonger(ethnographic)staysonthedeforestationfrontierinthelowerAmazon(Parástate),explainwhydeforestationandlandconflictsintheBrazilianAmazonare,accordingtothestatistics forBrazil,soparticularlyviolent?While thisquestion isdirectedattheaddedvalueofethnographicmethods,problems,risksandethicalissuesaredownsidestorelianceonthistypeofmethodology.Iwillalsoaddresssomeofthese.This article is based on the presentation I gave for the ESRC Green Criminology ResearchSeminarson22February2013atGlamorganUniversity inCardiff.Thispresentationincludedmanyphotographs that I took in theAmazon inBrazil. Itmade thepresentationquitevisual;contrarytothiswrittenpresentation.InsteadIdescribeimpressionsanddiscussethnographicexperiences.2


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Thechangedperceptionofforestrycrimesandharms

In2001,IgavemyfirstBAcriminologycourseontimberandillegallogging.Itisinterestingtolook at the perception of that new research theme, especiallywhen compared tomy formermainresearchtheme,internationaldrugcontrol.Somestudentsandcolleaguesperceivedmeashaving moved from an accepted ‘hard’ crime theme to a ‘soft’ theme. I noticed that somecolleaguesthoughtthatInowworkedonasomewhatvagueandevendevianttheme,asifIhadbecome an environmentalist or hippie‐like tree hugger. The criminological relevance wasregularlyquestioned:Whatdoesthathavetodowithcriminology?The reason why I considered that deforestation could well be part of criminology was thesimplefactthatmuchdeforestation,especiallyinthetropics,was–andstillis–illegal.ItmaybethegeneralWesternbiasofcriminologythatnotmanycriminologistsareawareofthis,ordonot find it interestingenough.Afterhavingstudieddeforestation foroveradecade, Iobservethat the theme still is not high on the agenda of criminologists. Why is this theme largelyignored?One explanation can be the already mentioned Western bias of criminology. Criminologicalhandbooks and criminology conferences are dominated by Western crimes, while it can beargued that globally most victims of crimes (including corporate, governmental and statecrimes) do not live in theWest. Howmany criminologists study crimes outside theWesternworld? Perhaps to this can be added an urban bias. Many criminologists live in urban areaswhich is also where most universities are found. This may explain why their attentionautomatically turns tourban crimes andharms.Moreover, lawenforcementagendasare alsodominatedbyurbancrimes,notbyruralorforestrycrimes.Athirdpossibleexplanationisthatcriminologistscanbelievethatthissubjectisdangerousanddifficult.Thismaybepartofamoregeneralperceptionthattravellingorlivingin,forexample,theAmazonrainforestiscomplicatedand requires an adventurous attitude and spirit. This image may be influenced by populardocumentaries that regularly feature impenetrable jungles and dangerous animals. It is truethattherearedangersanddifficultiesbuttheseusuallycomefromhumans,notfromanimals.Thereareseveralreasonswhydeforestationcanbestudiedfromaconventionalcriminologicalperspective aswell as from a green criminological angle, with harm as a point of departure.First, much deforestation and especially tropical deforestation is illegal. This means in mostcases that timber was logged illegally, without the right permits. According to UNEP andInterpol,illegalloggingaccountsfor15‐30percentoftheglobalforestryvolume.TheeconomicvalueofillegalloggingisestimatedatUS$30‐100billion,oraround10‐30percentoftheglobaltimbertrade.Inkeyproducertropicalcountries,includingBrazil,50‐90percentofallloggingisillegal(BoekhoutvanSolinge2010b;Goncalvezetal.2012:2;NellemanandInterpol2012).Secondly, deforestation, especially in the tropics, strongly correlates with violence. TheBrazilian Amazon seems particularly violent (Global Witness 2014): loggers and farmers(usually large landholders)commonlyusegunmen–pistoleros– tothreatenorkillprotestingcommunityleadersincasesoflandconflicts.Sincethelate1980s,morethan1,150peoplehavebeenkilledintheBrazilianAmazoninthesetypesofdisputes.Thirdly, various criminological concepts apply to this theme. The UNEP/Interpol reportdescribes corruption, collusion, sophisticated tax fraud and other crimes as ways in whichillegal logging is conducted. Involvement of ‘criminal groups’ ismentioned but not explicitlystated(NellemanandInterpol2012).Itisobvious,however,thatprivateactorssuchastimbercompanies are involved. Some criminologists call this corporate crime or white‐collar crime,althoughsomeformsoftropicaldeforestationcanbetterbeidentifiedasgovernmentalcrimeororganizedcrime(BoekhoutvanSolinge2013).


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Deforestationfitswellwithintherealmofgreencriminology,notleastduetotheworditself.Iftheword‘green’appliestoanythinginournaturalenvironment,itmustespeciallybeevergreentropical rainforests with their closed canopies that screen sunlight. The word green alsosymbolises the awareness that humanity is interacting with its living environment inunsustainable,harmfulways.Whentheharmperspectiveistakenasacriterion,deforestationandespecially tropicaldeforestation isagreencriminological themeparexcellence,asseveraldirectandindirectharmscanbeidentified.Iwillbrieflymentionsomehere(seealsoBoekhoutvanSolinge2010a,2010b).Theharmsofdeforestationimpactuponbothhumanandnonhumananimals,includingfuturegenerations,andparticularlythoselivingintropicalrainforestswhoaredirectlydependentontheforests.Tropicalrainforestsaretheplanet’sheadquartersofbiodiversity,containingmorethan half theworld’s known species and organisms (Wilson 2002: 59). This biodiversity hasgeographicaldimensions,asWallace(1852)longagohypothesizedafterhisstayintheAmazon.Deforestingalargeareacanresultinthedisappearanceof(sub)species.Deforestation‐relatedcrimesandharmsmentionedsofar,however,werenotthemainreasonforInterpolputtingdeforestationontheagenda(seeNellemanandInterpol2012).Whatreallymade the difference is the impact of deforestation on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions andclimate change. Tropical rainforests represent enormous storages of carbon (Verweij et al.2009:7).TheInternationalPanelonClimateChange(IPCC)(2007)estimatesthatsome18percentofallgreenhousegasemissionsarecausedbydeforestation.AUNprogramme–ReducingEmissionsfromDeforestationandforestDegradation(REDD)and,later,REDD+–hasbeensetup to limit (increasing) CO2 emissions by controlling deforestation. This allows the buying ofcarboncredits,enabling(rich)countriestonot(substantially)reduceemissionsthemselvesbutto basically pay theirway out of the problem by aiming to reduce emissions elsewhere. Thebest‐knownexampleis(oilexporter)Norwaywhichispaying1billionUSdollarstoIndonesiatoreduceitsdeforestationandconsequentlycarbonemissions.Norwayisalsothemainfunderof Interpol’s Law Enforcement Assistance for Forests (LEAF) programme aimed at reducingdeforestation.For greenor critical criminologists itmaybe ironic that ithasnotbeen the crimes thathavebeen committed that have been crucial for putting deforestation on the international lawenforcement agenda but the legal harms it causes.WhetherREDD+ can be effective in forestpreservation and reducing global emissions is another question (not addressed here). Thatillegallogginganddeforestationareincreasinglyacceptedasanewcrimeandlawenforcementthemehasalsomeantthattheperceptionofmyworkhaschanged.Insteadofstudyinga‘soft’anddevianttheme,Iamnowincreasinglyviewedasworkingonaninterestingandinnovativetheme.Methodsandmethodologicalreflection

TheGlobalWitnessreportshowsthatthereisnothingsoftaboutdeforestation.ThatresearchondeforestationcanalsoberiskyissomethingthatIonlyreallyunderstoodafterspendingtimeinandaroundrainforests.Ihadnotthoughtthatstudyingtropicaldeforestationcould,frommyexperience,attimesbemoredangerousthanstudyingillicitdrugmarkets.3I have used several ethnographic research methods: observation; which I believe is aunderestimatedresearchmethodincriminology;walkingandtalking;walkingandhavingsmallconversations; asking seemingly innocent questions to people like taxi drivers and streetvendors (who see and hear a lot); talks and interviews with key informants and people incommunities for more in‐depth information; and living somewhere (part‐time), which alsomeanshavingasocialnetworkand followingthenews.Comparedwithquantitativeresearch,


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ethnographic methods require additional (social) skills and demand other qualities such ascontextualassessmentsofpeopleandsituations.Oneofthefirsttasksisfindinggoodandtrustworthygatekeepers:peoplewhocanopendoorstopeopleorplaces,whoareawareofcertainrisks,andwhocanmakedecisionsthatlimitmyrisks. Secondly, there is thenormal scientific requirementof authenticity and representation:how trustworthy are (the storiesof)key informantsand respondents and towhat extent arethey representative of the phenomenon under investigation. A third condition for goodqualitative research is to win trust, first from key informants and gatekeepers, later fromrespondents. This holds true in particular for deviant or illegal phenomena, where theresearcherhastobecarefultonotbeseenasaspy,ratorsnitch.MystandardreactioninthesekindsofsituationsisalwaysthatIamanindependentacademicresearcherwhoispaidbytheuniversityalone;thatIaminterestedinphenomena,notinnames;andthatIwouldliketoheartheir perspective on things. During research on illegal phenomena in ‘real life’ (hence not inprisonsorfromdossiers),especiallyinresearchareaswithinweakstateswheretheruleoflawis weak and the monopoly of violence is not in the hands of (trustworthy) governmentpersonnel, this forms an essential safety dimension for doing research. In those situations, acrucialquestionis:howsafeitistowalkandworkwiththisperson?Studyingdeforestationcanbedangerous.Thosemakinga living from it (sometimes includinglawenforcers)couldinterpretmeasathreat.Tropicalrainforestsarevastareaswhereitisnotuncommon for people to carry weapons for hunting or for protection against dangerousanimals.State institutionsaregenerallynotverypresentorcannotbetrusted,which leads toregularsituationswherepeopletakethelawintotheirownhands.Having visited potentially dangerous places and meeting potentially dangerous people overmany years, I gradually learned to recognise, use and trust my feelings or intuition whichincreasingly became an indicator of my (lack of) safety. When I have a good feeling aboutsomeone or something, I go on, andwhen the feeling about someone or something is bad, Ichangecourse.Iwillgiveseveralexampleswherefeelingsinfluencedresearchdecisions.DownstreamtheAmazonRiver(2003)

ThefirsttimeIvisitedtheAmazonwasin2003.FromRiodeJaneiroIflewalmost3,000kmtoManaus,capitalofBrazil’slargeststateAmazonas.ManausislocatedintheheartoftheAmazon,attheconfluenceoftwolargerivers–theblackRioNegroandthesandy‐colouredRioSolimões–thatrunsidebysideforkilometresbeforegraduallymixing.Inthenineteenthcentury,whentheAmazonhadthemonopolyonhighqualityrubber,Manauswas theworld’s rubber capital,whichbroughtmoney andmigrants. SomeofManaus’ rubberbaronswereextremelywealthy.Manausbecame famous for itsbeautifuloperahouse,with arubber access road so that the sound of horse‐drawn carriages with late guests would notdisturb theartistsandaudience.Manauswas the first city inBrazil thathad electricityandaFederalUniversity.In theearly twentiethcentury, theeconomyofManausand theAmazonasawhole collapsedwhentheBritishandotherEuropeancolonialpowersstartedtoexportAsianplantationrubberon a large scale. TheseAsian rubber trees grew from70,000 rubber seeds that, in 1876, hadbeen smuggled out of the Amazon byHenryWickham (Jackson 2008). This ‘rubber robbery’would later become one of the classic examples of biopiracy. Nevertheless, since the 1970s,ManaushasgrownrapidlyintoalargeindustrialcityandthelargestcityinthenorthofBrazil,with over 2million inhabitants. Even though it is located 1,500 kilometres from the sea, the


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Amazon River is easy to navigate for container ships. Manaus is also a main destination fortouristsvisitingtheAmazon.Myaimwasalso tosee the forest, river,andwildlifeaswellasgettinga first‐handgraspandviewofdeforestation.Ihadnocontactsyetbut,duringbreakfastinthehostelwhereIstayed,IpickedupaninterestingconversationbetweentwoFrenchtouristsandtheirFrench‐speakingBrazilianguidewhosaidhehadbeenguidingandtranslatingonaGreenpeaceshipvisitingtheAmazon.HesaidmuchillegallyloggedtimberwasexportedfromtwoharboursdownstreamontheAmazonRiver:SantarémandBeléminParástate.Idecidedtovisitthem.From Manaus, I went 600 kilometres downstream and eastwards – more or less along theequator – on a ferryboat, the most common public transport. Two days later I arrived inSantarém,acityofsome300,00opeople.Morethanonecenturyago,‘rubberrobber’Wickhamsecretly loaded the 70,000 rubber seeds on a ship, after collecting them around Santarém(Jackson2008).OnthedocksofSantarémIsawmanylargetimberstacksreadytobeloadedonships.Takingan‘innocent’walk along the docks after disembarking, I noticed that all ships had their (mostlyEuropean)destinationspaintedontheirsides,theDutchportFlushingbeingthemostcommon.Pilesthathadatimbercertificationwererare.Consideringthehighlevelsofillegaltimberfromthispartofthe(lower)Amazon,someofthetimberprobablyhadbeenloggedillegally.Santarém,some800kilometresfromtheAmazonRivermouth, isatthepointwheretheclearwater,blue‐colouredTapajósRiverflowsintothebrownAmazonRiver,thesecond‘meetingofwaters’. Human habitation in this area is very old, as the archaeological excavations of AnnaRoosevelt(1996)haveshown.When I visited Santarém, a soy‐exporting terminal for Cargill, Incorporated, the foodmultinationalcompany,hadbecomeoperational.Cargillbuilttheporttoreducetransportcostsso that soy from ‘soy state’ Mato Grosso no longer had to be transported 3,000 kilometressouthwardstobeexported.Itnowonlyhadtobetransported1,000kilometresnorthwardstoSantarém, fromwhere it could be exported directly, mainly to Europe and Asia. An English‐speaking biologist who guided me thorough the Tapajós National Park toldme that the soyharbour was attracting farmers from central and southern Brazil because they could sourcecheaplandnearSantarém.From Santarém I flew to Belém, Pará’s capital near the mouth of the Amazon River. Withamazement, Iwatchedhowover15percentoftheplanet’s freshwater(Gouldingetal.2003:27)meanderedtowardstheocean.Atthesametime,Iwasshockedtoseehowmuchrainforesthaddisappeared. InBelém, I tried tovisit theharbourbut itwasnotaccessible to thepublic.ThroughthegateIcouldseemuchtimber.BacktoBrazil(2009‐2011)

In2009IwentbacktoBelém.AfterthatIplannedtoflytoManausandlookfordeforestationthatwasrelatedtotimber,cattleorsoy, thethreedriversbehinddeforestation.Beforehand, IhadmadeanappointmentwithatimbertraderinBelém.HewassurprisedthatIwasgoingtoManaus.‘WhydoyougotoManaus?Thereisstillforestthere.Ifyouwanttoseedeforestationfortimberandsoy,youbettergotoSantarém’.Thefollowingday,ImissedmyplanetoManaus.Thiswassurprisingandconfusing,becauseIhadnevermissedaplanebefore.AnotherflighttoManauswasnotavailableintheshortterm.I


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remembered thewords of the timber trader andon an impulse I decided to go to Santarém,whereIcouldtravelthenextday.

Figure1:SoyfieldsnearSantarémintheBrazilianAmazon(photographedbyauthor)IsuddenlyhadonemoredayinBelém.IheardataxidrivertalkingFrenchatahotel.‘Wheredidyou learn that?’ Iasked. ‘Bypractising’,hereplied.HeexplainedthatheregularlyhadFrenchcustomers,somefromnearbyFrenchGuiana,tobuytimber.‘Soyouknowthetimberbusinesseshere?’Iasked.‘Iknowthemall!’,hereplied.Iaskedhispriceandbookedhimforthenextday.The next morning we left the city and he gave an overview of timber companies operatinglocally. I chose one nearby to visit first. Arriving at a big gate, the driver said that timbercompanieswerenoteasilyaccessible‘buttheyknowme!’.Ithoughtthatitwasbettertouseacover.4 I pretended to be interested in timber, which he translated at the gate. Inside, thedirectorappearedtobeDutch,whichcompletelytookmebysurprise.InhisofficeIsaidIwasinterestedintimberprices.Iwasnowtalkingdirectlytoatimbertraderandinournativelanguage.Ifeltincreasinglybadaboutbasicallylyingtohim.Thisbecamesouncomfortable that I felt I had to change something. ‘I have to tell you something. I havenotbeen honest with you. I am actually from the university, doing research on timber’. He keptsilent.Whatwould he do?He seemed like a goodperson and I did not feel in danger,whichcouldhavebeenthecasewithothertimbertraders.ThenIsaid:‘Iunderstanditifyouareangryandwanttokickmeout’.No,hewaswillingtotalk.Eventually we spoke for hours. I was allowed to sit at a meeting with another (European)timbertrader.Theydiscussedwhetherornottobribeamayorwhowasdeliberatelydelayingpaperworkinordertobepaid.Thetraderexplainedthathetriedtobuylegaltimber,butthatsome30percentofhissuppliesweresuspiciousinorigin.Attheend,hesaidheunderstoodmymotivesforbeingdeceptive:ifIhadinitiallypresentedmyselfasacriminologist,hewouldnothavetalkedtome.


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That Ihadenteredhisbusinessunder falsepretencesmademere‐evaluatemyposition.Thisapproachhadresultedininterestinginformationandwassometimestheonlywaytogetaccesstotimbertradersbutitcouldhavebeendangerous.Moreimportantly,itdidnotfeelgoodandIdecidedtonotdoitagain.The next morning I arrived in Santarém, halfway between Belém and Manaus, where I hadarrived by boat six years earlier. I went looking for the English‐speaking biologist who hadpreviouslyguidedmebutnoone I approached spokeeitherEnglishorFrench. I feltbadanddecidedthatIhadtochangecourse.IthenrealisedthatIhadactuallynotreallyarrivedyet. Isaidtomyself:justwalkandlook,gowiththeflow!Someminuteslater,walkingalongtheriverboulevard,IenteredaninternetcaféandIhadanunusual feeling: ‘Theremightbesomethingformeinthere’.TheownerhappenedtobefluentinEnglish.IaskedhimifheknewanEnglish‐speakingAmazonguide. ‘Sure’,hesaid, ‘mygoodfriendGil,wholivesalittlefurtherdowntheboulevard’.FiveminuteslaterIknockedatGil’sdoor.AfteranotherfiveminutesIknewIwantedhimasmyguide. ‘Butyouhavetoknowthat Iamveryexpensive’,hesaid, ‘but I likewhatyou’redoing;we’llmakeadeal’.Eventually,afterhoursoftalking,hesaid:‘Whydon’tyoumoveinhere,thenwecantalkmore’.Eventually,IspentaweekatGil’shouse.Hebecamemyguide,keyinformantand gatekeeper. I gradually discovered that he was very knowledgeable and had a largenetwork, including NGO representatives, defence lawyers, academics and people from forestcommunities.5In 2010, I was back in Santarém to investigate possibilities for a research project. TheNetherlandsOrganisationforScientificResearch(NWO)hadlaunchedaprogrammeonconflictsandnaturalresources(CoCooN), forwhichtheSantarémareaseemedsuitable.Nextto longerexistingconflictsovertimberandcattle,themaincauseofconflicthadbecomedeforestationforsoy. Gil and I organized meetings at his house with academics and NGOs. With a view overSantarém’s ‘MeetingofWaters’,wedesigneda firstprojectplan,whichlaterwasaccepted forfunding.Formeitwasallanexampleofserendipity.MyfirsttwovisitstoSantarémwereunplannedandhappenedmoreor lessbyaccident.NowIhadaresearchproject there. I learnedPortuguese,becamefriendswithGilandfamiliarwiththeregionanditsdeforestationissues.ThePastoralLand Commission (CPT), a well‐respected Brazilian NGO, became part of our team and alsoactedasagatekeeper.ThroughCPTImadecontactwithcommunitiesortheirrepresentatives.Iwentback toSantarémseveral timesbetween2010and2014. In2011and2012 thesevisitsamountedtosixmonthsperyear.ConflictsovernaturalresourcesinWestPará

SeveraltimesItravelledbetweenManausandSantarém,byboatandbyplane.Santarémliesinthe west of Pará state, Manaus lies in the adjacent Amazonas state. Amazonas and Pará areBrazil’stwolargeststates,both locatedintheAmazonregion.Movingbetweenthestatesalsomeansmovingbetweentwodifferentforestsituations,andgovernanceorruleoflawsystems.This can be observed from the air or from the river. In Amazonas state, the forest ismostlyintact;Paráhasbeensubstantiallydeforested.Thisdifferencecanpartlybeexplainedbytheireconomies. Amazonas has much industrial development, concentrated in Manaus. Pará’seconomyisbasedonagricultureandnaturalresourceextraction,whichmeans that there isastrong agricultural lobby at the state level, just as there is at Brazil’s federal level. Both putpressureonforestland.


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Thelarge‐scaleexploitationofnaturalresourcesintheBrazilianAmazonstartedinthe1970s.Logging and cattle ranches were driving the first deforestation trend. In Pará, this wasfacilitated by two roads cutting through the Amazon rainforest, both of whichwere finished(paved)intheearly1970s.Roadsgiveaccesstoforestsandenabletimberandcattletransports.Roadsalsobroughtsettlers,especiallywhenBrazilstartedaprogrammeofinternalcolonisationbytransferringBraziliansfromthepoornorth‐easternregionstotheAmazon.Fearnside(1984:50)explainsthatunplannedcolonisationthroughsquatting,thetraditionalmeansofsettlement,‘engendered many bloody fights throughout Amazonia between squatters and eitherlandowners holding documents for legal ownership or themore feared grileiros, speculatorsmakingtheir livingbycontractingthugs(jaqunçosorpistoleros)todrivesmall farmersoff thelandtheyoccupy’.In theTapajósValley inwestPará, this colonisationwascombinedwith a gold rushbetween1970and1990.Itattractedtensofthousands:prospectors,businesspeople,sexworkers(intheslipstreamof goldprospectors)andpistoleros. Thegold rushmeantwealthbutalsodisorder,invasion of indigenous lands and otherwise protected areas, mercury pollution, disease anddeath.ManypeopleintheSantarémareaknow(knew)someonewhodiedduringthegoldrushfromdisease,accidentsorviolence.6In the 1990s, after the Tapajós gold rush, entrepreneurs started to invest heavily in cattleranchingandlogging(Gouldingetal.2003:141‐142).Thegunmenfoundanewclienteleamongloggersandranchers.Parábecamethemajortimberharvestingandexportingstate.Parágainedthereputationofaconflictstate:forgingdocumentsandusingviolencebecamethekeyforlandgrabbing(GreenpeaceInternational2003).Intheearlytwentiethcentury,deforestationforsoybecamethemainconflictintheSantarémarea, stimulatedby theconstructionofa soy‐exporting terminal inSantarémby thecompanyCargill,Incorporated.Theportitselfalsowasasourceofconflict:notonlywasitbuiltwithouttheobligatoryEnvironmental ImpactAssessment (leading to ten yearsof court cases), itwasalsobuiltnexttoanarchaeologicalsiteontheTapajósRiverbankanddestroyedapopularcitybeach.ThepresenceoftheportattractedfarmersfromcentralandsouthBrazilwhoboughtorgrabbedrainforestland,feedingfurtherconflicts.A culture of lawlessness and impunity had emerged. Of 1,150murders committed over landconflicts in the Amazon since the late 198os, only 100 cases went to court. While 80 hiredgunmenhavebeenconvicted,only15peoplewhoorderedkillingshavefacedcharges(Brooks2011).Manyothersarethreatenedbycoalitionsofloggers,farmersandcattleranchers(Phillips2008). Among the nine Brazilian states in the Amazon, Pará state stands out as having thelargestnumberofthesemurders,withruralleadersbeingthemostcommonvictims(Loureiro2011:81).ParáalsobecamethemostviolentofBrazil’s26statesintermsofmurdersoverlandconflicts(CPT2009).What struck me, after spending much time in the Amazon and especially Santarém, is thegenerallynegativeimageofranchers,(soy)farmers,loggersandtimbertraders.Theyhavequiteatoughandbadreputationaspeoplewhomayeasilyresorttoviolence.InSantarém,IwasatatrainingeventbyCPTforleadersfromforestandripariancommunities(aspartofourCoCooNactivities).Alawyergavethemsecurityadvice:neverleaveyourhousealone;makesureyouaresurrounded by other people – in some villages, fellow villagers form a safety protection ringaroundathreatenedcommunityleader–andinstructyourchildrentonevertellastranger–apotentialpistolero–whereyouare.This violence by loggers and farmers seems quite structural. It reminded me of what JohnBraithwaite (1989: 129) wrote about (US) business subcultures: ‘business resisting law


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enforcement by forming oppositional and criminogenic business subcultures’. ParaphrasingBraithwaite,Isuggesttheterm‘violentbusinesssubcultures’forsomeofthebusinessesintheAmazonthatspecialiseinnaturalresourceexploitation,althoughorganizedcrimemightalsobeappropriate(BoekhoutvanSolinge2013).Precautions,problems,corruptionandcriminalisation(2011‐2014)

BeingintheAmazon,Itookmyprecautions.ForsometimeIlivedonabeautifulriverbeachontheoutskirtsofSantarém.Atnight,Iwassometimeswokenupbythesoundofbulldozerstakinglogsfromabargetoatimbercompanyontheriverbank.Duringabeachstrolloneafternoon,Itookacloserlookatthepilesofhugelogsbutitdidnotfeelgoodandsafetobethere.Tobeginwith, theneighbourhood (Maracana) did not have a good reputation.Quite a fewpeople hadbeenrobbed,rapedandkilledonthatbeach.IwasaforeignerlivingnearbyonthebeachandIdid notwant anyone at the timber company to know aboutmy curiosity about their timber.Anothertime,Iwalkedbyalocalnearbybeachbarandaguyyelledandwantedtotalk.Perhapshe was curious about me, the gringo. He worked for Alcoa, a controversial multinationalinvolved in large‐scale deforestation for bauxite mining in nearby Jurutí (see Boekhout vanSolinge2010a,2010b).MaybeitwasbecausehewasdrunkbutIstronglyfeltatthatmomentthat I did not want this person to know that I studied deforestation. In general, I becamehesitant tellingpeopleofmy interestandwouldgenerallyvaguelysay that IworkedwiththeUFOPA (Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará) university in Santarém. Once, after apresentationat a conferenceatUFOPA, Iwas invited to the regional televisionstation. In thetelevision interview, Imadesomecritical comments.After the interview, Idecided that Iwasnot going to do that very often. I figured it better to stay lowprofile, so thatmygringo facewouldnotbecometoowellknowninthearea.Researching deforestation in Brazil is also a sensitive issue in other ways. It can easily beinterpreted as interfering with Brazil’s internal affairs. In several cities (Santarém, Belém,Manaus, Rio and Brasilia) I met people, and particularly educated middle‐class people, whocriticisedorquestionedmywork. I oftenheard:you inEuropecutdownall your forestsanddevelopedeconomically;areyounowsayingwecannotdothesame?AfederalcivilservantinBrasilia said: ‘We are aware of our social and environmental land issues, but we feelinternationalpressure.InEuropeyoudonothaveBrazilianNGOsandresearchersdoingcriticalinvestigations,doyou?’Being among the world’s top five or six countries – in terms of size, population and GDP –Brazil’seducatedmiddle‐classpopulationisincreasinglyself‐consciousandconfident.Thereisquitewidespread feeling among politicians, policymakers and entrepreneurs that foreignerscriticise Brazil’s development model too much. A Brazilian viewpoint is that, in order tocompete with subsidized agriculture in North America and Europe, Brazil has to use itsrelativelyunusedandunexploitedland.ThiscanimplythatgatessometimescloseforWesternersstudyingdeforestation.In2012,twoofmyMAstudentscametoSantarémforresearch:oneontimber,theotheronsoy.InSantarém,Ihadbefriendeda taxi driverwith a largeand interestingnetwork. Iwanted tousehimas agatekeeper.HeknewdifferenttimbertradersandIaskedifhecouldintroduceonestudentanddrive her there. He said that thiswould be no problem.However, he did not succeed,whichreallysurprisedhimasheknewthetraders.Theydidnotwanttotalkabouttheirbusinesstoaforeigner. The other student tried to contact soy farmers and Cargill, Incorporated. From aunionleader,shegotalistwithphonenumbersof95soyfarmers.Shecalledthemall,butonlytwowereeventuallywillingtotalktoher.Somehadcalledheraneco‐terrorist.Interviewingastaffmember from Cargill also proved difficult, even after establishing contacts at ameeting


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where Cargill staff were present and where she was promised an interview. After manyattemptsshefinallymetwithaspokesperson,whodidnotsaymuch.Cargillisknownfornotbeingverytransparentandaccessible.EvenOlivierDeSchutter,inhiscapacityasUNSpecialRapporteurontheRight toFood,wasunabletospeaktowhathecalls‘The Big Five’, the large andmostly unknown foodmultinationals. According to De Schutter,thesefivecompanies–ADM,Bunge,Cargill,GlencoreandLouiseDreyfus–arenotinterestedinhaving a dialogue because the general public does not know them (Somers 2014). In otherwords,theyprefertoremainunknown,whichmeanstheydonothavetodefendtheirname.In2014,IvisitedSantarémagain.Brazil’s(non‐corrupt)FederalPolicehadjustclosed,foronemonth, Santarém’s Federal Environmental Protection Agency IBAMA. The reason was aninvestigation into illegal timber that had been ‘legalised’. It concerned a quantity of some500,000 cubicmetres,whichwould need 14,000 trucks for transporting (Sousa 2014). Sometimbercompanieshadusedhackerstobreakintotheonlinegovernmentaltimberregistrationsystemsetuptocontrolthetimbertrade.First,over100andlaterover300timbercompanieswereunderinvestigationforthis.ThehousesofsomeIBAMAagentshadalsobeensearched.ItremindedmeofaEuropeantimbertraderIoncemetinGermany,whohadpreviouslyworkedinSantarémbuthadleftafterthreatsfromaBraziliantimbertrader.Heexplainedthathehadtopayan IBAMAagent inorder togetdocuments. ‘So thisonewas corrupt?’ Iasked. ‘Thisone?Theyallarecorrupt!’,hesaid.All timbercompanies intheareahadtopayIBAMAagents: thebiggerthecompanies,themoretheyhadtopay.Alsoduringmy2014visit, IvisitedSantarém’scourthousewhereahearing tookplaceoveraconflictin2010betweenaloggingcompanyandindigenouscommunitiesfromareservenearSantarém.Indigenouscommunitieswereclaimingthatthetimbercompanywasloggingillegallyin their reserve. Theyhadmade a river blockade at Prainha, near Santarém, stoppingbargeswith timberanddemanded the judicial authoritiesvisit andact.However,afterablockadeofdays,noonefromtheprosecutor’sofficecameandtheprotestorssetoneofthebargesonfire.When they tried to stop another barge with timber, someone from the barge shot and hit aprotestorinthechest.Thisgunviolencemadetheprotestorsstop(CPT2010:14).Thetimbercompanylaterbroughtseveral indigenouscommunitiestocourt,aswellasrepresentativesofsome NGOs who were present (also our partner CPT). In the end it was not the (apparent)illegalloggers,oneofwhomalsousedviolence,buttheenvironmentalandlandprotectorswhohadtogotocourt.Discussionandconclusions

Ethnographicmethodsprovide insight intothedynamicsandcomplexityofdeforestation: thetypesofplayersandforcesinvolved;theoverlapbetweenthelegalandillegal;socio‐economiccircumstances; conflicts and power relationships; and the functioning (or not) of stateinstitutions. One thing that always strikes me when visiting regions with large areas ofrainforestisthatthereisnotmuchgovernmentalpresence.Assoonasoneleavesthetownorcity, governmental institutions are not really around. This can create a power vacuum that,combinedwith economic‐political interests, corruption and collusion, can create a culture ofdisrespect for the law and sometimes impunity. Ethnographic methods are also a way ofgathering local views and away to give a voice to thosewhose voices are seldomotherwiseheardinternationallyorinEnglish.Knowledgeoflocalviewsleadstointerestingcontradictionsbetweenthelocalandinternationallevel.A first contradiction concerns theperception ofme as researcher.Whereas in theWest (andmaybe elsewhere in the world) many people will generally say it is important to studydeforestation, inareaswith rainforests, Iamsometimesseenasan intruderor someonewho


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exaggerates. I heard several times in the Amazon: ‘There is somuch forest here, this cannotdisappear’.Asecondcontradiction is thatmanyof theharmsandcrimesrelated to tropicaldeforestationremain unknown internationally. This relates to a third contradiction: the perception aboutmultinational companies such as Cargill, Incorporated.When one ‘Googles’ Cargill, one findsmanypositivereferencesaboutitspolicyofcorporateandenvironmentalresponsibility.Cargillstatesthatitspolicyhasresultedin‘zerodeforestationintheSantarémareasince2006’.7ThiscontrastswithlocalviewsfromSantarémwhere,forovertenyears,Cargill’spresencehasbeencontroversial.NotonlywasCargill’ssoyexportport’slegalstatuscontestedinthecourtsbuttheportalsocatalyseddeforestationintheregion.Afourthcontradictionconcernsinternational(private)regulationinitiatives.Deforestationforsoy is on the international agenda and has led to international initiatives such as the soymoratorium and the Round Table on Responsible Soy. Soy multinationals, including Cargill,promisedtobansoygrowingonlandthathasbeendeforestedafter2006.SeveraltimesIheardor I read that this regulation system is effective in stopping deforestation. This problem hasbeen solved, a Dutch civil servant told me. An international consultant told me somethingsimilar. International NGOs mostly support these regulation systems but local or regionalBrazilianNGOsdonot.Theymostlyconsiderthatitdoesnotwork(BoekhoutvanSolingeandKuijper 2012). People from communities and NGOs in and around Santarém say thatdeforestation,alsoforsoy,hasslowlybutconsistentlycontinuedsince2006.AfifthcontradictionconcernsthefocusofNGOs.InternationalNGOsthatworkintheAmazonare mostly environmental NGOs, focusing on the preservation of nature. Local and regionalNGOsfocusmuchmoreonhumanrights.AcommoncriticismoflocalNGOsisthatinternationalNGOspaymoreattentiontoanimalsthantothehumaninhabitantsoftheforest.For many people, including most Brazilians, rainforests are places that are far away andunknown.IoncegaveapresentationtoacademicstaffatananthropologydepartmentinRiodeJaneiro.Ofthetwentyorsopeoplewhowerepresent,onlyonehadeverbeenintheAmazon.Theyhadheard about Santarémand somemade cynical comments about themany (activist)NGOsinSantarém,whichtheyseemedtoseeasexaggerated.IreceivedtheimpressionthattheydidnotunderstandtherealityofcrimesandharmsintheAmazon.In2014,GlobalForestWatch,anewstateoftheartforestmonitoringsystem,waslaunched.Itshows that deforestation in the Santarém area has continued since 2006.8 Satellite imagesbasically confirm what many locals say. This contradicts Cargill’s statement about zerodeforestationintheSantarémarea.DoesCargillmakethisstatementbecauseitismeantforaninternationalaudienceandwillnotbeverifiedlocally?EveryonewhoknowstheSantarémareaanditseconomicdynamicsalsoknowsthatsoyisthemaincrop.CanitreallybethecasethatnoneofthesoythatisexportedfromSantarémgrowsonrecentlydeforestedareas?Correspondence: Dr Tim Boekhout van Solinge, Assistant Professor in Criminology, WillemPompeInstituteforCriminalLawandCriminology,UtrechtUniversity,Boothstraat6,3512BWUtrecht.TheNetherlands.Email:[email protected]


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1 See the blog Lands and Right in Troubled Water: landsandrights.blog.com. The CoCooN programme requiresstudyingconflictsovernaturalresourcesintwocountries.WechoseBrazilandColombia.AcademicpartnersareUtrecht University, National University of Brasilia, and National University of Colombia. UFOPA, the FederalUniversityofWestParáwas initially involved.TheNGOpartnersareFIANinternational,CENSAT(Friendsof theEarth)inColombia,andthePastoralLandCommission(CPT)inBrazil.

2 Two sections of this article, Downstream the Amazon (2003) and Back to Brazil (2009‐2011), are adaptedtranslations (by me) of parts of an article previously published in Dutch on ethnographic methods in tropicalrainforests(BoekhoutvanSolinge2009).

3 My hypothesis for this is as follows. When I meet people who are in the drug business, there is mutualunderstandingthattheiractivityisillegal,whichmeansthatthisisnotreallyanissue.IonlyhavetomakesurethatIwillnotrevealtheiridentity.Thisisincontrastwithlogging,wherelegalplayersareinvolved,alsoinillegalacts.Theymightseeacriminologicalresearcherasathreat,notwantingtobeassociatedwithcrimeandcriminology.

4ThisguisewasalsoinfluencedbyworkofNGOslikeEIAthatsometimesdoundercoverinvestigationswithhiddencameras.Bypresentingthemselvesasbuyersoftimberorwildlifeproducts,theyidentifytraffickingnetworks.

5Igraduallylearntabouthisexperienceandknowledge.GilSeriquehasbeenguidingvariousscientificexpeditionsandtelevisiondocumentaries.InseveralbooksheisreferredtoasthebestoroneofthebestguidesoftheAmazon.SeethechapterSoymageddoninBlackwell(2012).

6 Thiswas explained tome byGil. Imet several people, and I heard aboutmore,making a fortune, some as goldprospectors(althoughIalsometsomewholostitall),othersasownersofahotel,brothelorplane(flyingingoldprospectors). I alsoheard storiesof violent andextortingpolicemen.Militarypolicemen (themost commonandmost corrupt police) sometimes had to pay a superior for being stationed in a gold prospecting area, whichguaranteedextrapay.Somepolicemenwentfurtherandbecameviolentrobbersorcontractkillers.ThegoldrushwasendedbyPresidentCollordeMelloin1990,inanattempttoimproveBrazil’simageonenvironmentalissues(Brooke1990).

7SeeCargill,IncorporatedstatementResponsibleSoyProduction:RespectingandEngagingwiththeLocalCommunityinSantarémathttp://www.cargill.com/corporate‐responsibility/pov/soy‐production/local‐community‐santarem/index.jsp(accessed28July2014).

8Seehttp://www.globalforestwatch.orgformappingoftreecoverloss.References

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Documents

Researching Illegal Logging and Deforestation · Interpol, illegal logging accounts for 15‐30 per cent of the global forestry volume. The economic value of illegal logging is estimated