Water-Energy-Food-Forest Nexus in The Amazon Conservation Unit
Marcelo Macedo Guimarães, Mariluce Paes de Souza
Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental
Urban Farm DB summary
A qualitative study of a Conservation Unit in the Brazilian Amazon (the Lago do Cuniã Extractive Reserve) analyzing the role of forests within the water-energy-food nexus, focusing on how traditional populations use non-wood natural resources for their survival. Data were collected through questionnaire-based interviews and non-participant observation. The results show that maintaining forest resources improves water quality, controls erosion and resilience against droughts and floods, contributes to energy supply, and contributes to food safety for residents of the conservation unit. The authors note policy implications for management practices to conserve forests and to protect the quantity and quality of rivers, lakes, and aquatic and agricultural ecosystems in the reserve.