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Extractive reserves were originally conceived as a way of addressing a social problem, specifically the expropriation of the customary lands of forest peoples by deforestation and ranching. The concept was powerful because it resulted from a social movement and became strong for the same reason. The original concept, however, has always been based on a specific social class and its scope limited to areas situated in the Amazon where populations exploit extractive resources in a traditional manner. The extractive reserves began to be considered as an element of the question of regional development after two clearly defined events: • Chico Mendes' death, because it revealed the existence of an extractive reality to both Brazil and the world; • The intensification of research and debate on the intrinsic economic value of the forest compared to its use for farming activities and timber extraction. Rubber tappers have always compared the advantages and disadvantages of living in the forest, to that of farms or outskirts of towns. They believe, and research seems to corroborate, that their real income was higher as forest dwellers. Urgent custom paper writing of high quality for those students who would like to order custom research papers completed from scratch The result of this comparison was evident at the "empates" to protest against deforestation. Although the main aim of the first cooperative programs put into practice in Xapuri was not economic sustainability but political organization to defend the forest, they proved that the commercialization of forest products was profitable to those involved in extractive activities. However, the analysis of the relationship between extractivism and regional development requires the consideration of other variables which have not yet been used by the rubber tappers' movement. First, the economic and social dynamics of extractivism should be better understood, both from the point of view of collection and processing of products and their commercialization and industrialization. Second, linkages should be established between extractive activities and other regional economic impacts should be more thoroughly understood. All extractive products collected in the Amazon follow the same organizational rules: aviamento, the barter system. This means that the products are collected in the forest and exchanged for industrialized goods, in an operation which does not involve money. But one should understand that the barter system is a specific social relation which differs from all others existing in Brazilian rural areas such as wage-labor, share-cropping, and leasing. The main features of this barter system is that there is no prior definition of the prices on which the exchange will be based. In the case of wage-labor, for example, the worker knows in advance how much his hourly salary is and that he will receive the equivalent amount in goods. In the barter system, the rules of exchange are established a posteriori, which allows for dealers to easily manipulate prices. The main result of activities organized according to a barter system is indebtedness.
Recent data on deforestation in the Amazon announced by the Brazilian government indicate that about 8% of the forest has already been cut. In spite of the controversy about methods used to reach this figure, the indisputable fact is that between 8% and 10% of the rainforest has been destroyed. Online proofreading assistance for busy college students who want to buy expert proofreading assistance for free! Alternatives to halt deforestation range from supervision and control of the migration process, to cutting of fiscal incentives, to taxation of agricultural activities and reforestation. The Brazilian government is expected to take stricter measures especially in the future because they are interested in presenting a positive image of their environmental administration to the rest of the world at a time when a major global environmental conference will be held in Brazil. As the control of deforestation is the responsibility of the Brazilian government, the question to be asked now is, what should be the strategy for maintaining the remaining forest? The most elaborate technical responses point to the sustainable management of timber because of the higher profitability of timber extraction and because reserves of valuable hardwoods are concentrated in areas belonging to the economically most powerful Brazilian and foreign groups. Therefore, it can be predicted that even with a decrease of deforestation for cattle ranching, the uncontrolled harvesting of wood will continue until the proposals for sustainable management become government policy. If the point is the discussion of sustainable development — and by this I mean the sustainability of use of resources and distribution of social wealth — we are facing a total lack of available solutions. All current proposals — extractive reserves, biological agriculture, aggregation of value to forest products — are limited to a regional scope and their efficiency has not yet been satisfactorily proved. This situation results from the fact that those alternatives were suggested as some sort of "resistance" to the status quo, and as a form of concentrating the fight against deforestation. They are partial solutions for only certain sectors of the Amazonian regional society. The discussion of the relation between extractive reserves and regional development must be twofold. Limits must be considered first. The analysis of technical and political possibilities and requirements for new prospects of incorporation of common use resources to local policies should follow.
Regional development can only succeed as part of an explicit national political commitment to redistribute resources spatially, sectorially, and interpersonally while restoring and defending the inherited resource base. To achieve this goal the role of agriculture within national life must be redefined. Much too often agriculture has become synonymous with regional underdevelopment and poverty. Any effective attempt to promote regional development must confront this problem directly and not simply sidestep the issue by focusing on natural resource exploitation or agroindustrial development. The search for such examples is indeed frustrating. Thus, the study of the Cuban program is particularly rewarding because of the country's commitment to reduce the inherited socio-economic differentials, usually correlated with urbanization. Online proofreading services advice for responsible university students who want to use professional proofreading assistance at no cost! Its rural development efforts include the reconstruction and strengthening of the rural resource base, by developing a thriving livestock sector based on an intensive use of land for feed needs which has permitted the rebuilding of tropical forest areas. Without going into the details of programs described elsewhere, or the possible problems with their implementation (, the original commitment of the Cuban leadership to the peasantry has been transformed into the cornerstone of a broader project to reduce the social and economic distance between the cities and the countryside. This is part of a substantial effort to modernize rural production, transforming and integrating the peasant family fully into the rest of the society. It seems significant that in the process of creating these changes, the Cubans have also been successful in opening channels of communication and increasing flexible administrative structures responsive to criticism. In this case, "regionalism" has found a solution in the concrete policies of the socialist government and clearly illustrates the socio-political character of economic and geographic concentration in other countries.
As an ideological tool, rural development— regionalism — is a key element in the developmental scheme. It offers a framework within which the dominant classes can manipulate conflict and negotiation — generally centered in a country's urban centers. It is often a product of deliberate efforts to perpetuate the prevailing structure of domination. Online custom paper writing of high quality for those students who seek to purchase custom papers prepared from scratch These efforts to stimulate rural growth can win the support of provincial bourgeoisies for national policies and prevent them from developing local class alliances which might undermine a centralist policy. Ironically, this support for regional demands has contributed to consolidating the support of the ruling classes throughout the region and in strengthening the prevailing spatial distribution of production and power. There are very few, if any, instances in which a successful program really achieves its goal of benefiting a local group at the expense of the national dominant classes. In the Brazilian northeast, for example, the generous financial incentives, which were an essential building block in the regional development effort, induced a substantial flow of private investment; they "were offered because of the coincidence of needs with the national economic system". Similarly, the Venezuelan commitment to regional development was only possible because of the importance of natural resources of Guayana for the basic industries which process them and for the national and international accumulation models of which they were a valuable input. The examples abound, and because of their importance in national policy formulation and the popularity of regional development, it is useful to go into greater detail. Regional development, as a rural-oriented approach, assumes a sectoral character. The concept of "equity" or "social justice" has been relegated to an ideological level, the "benefit" which the peasant receives depends on his importance in stimulating growth and accumulation on a national level or as an agent in political protest. In one particular project in the tropical rain forests, citing Barkin), it was precisely its local character which created opposition from Mexican political forces. Financial support for the project was only restored once it was redesigned to directly respond to certain national requirements which reoriented it in line with the prevailing pattern of capitalist expansion. The local resource base and social organization were destroyed in the process.
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