The traditional populations of the region surrounding the Cachoeira do Aruã
community, located in the Projeto Agroextrativista do Lago Grande, in Santarém, Pará, have
relations with ways of living and producing based on extractivism, family farming, hunting and
gathering. Said ways presuppose the existence of areas of collective use and agreements for the
exploitation of their natural resources. Conflicts over access to wood in that region, rich in
species of high economic value, were exacerbated in the first decade of the 21st century. This
dissertation aims to historicize, on a theoretical basis centered on political ecology, the paths of
the various public policies in different depths, in their land ownership, environmental, and
agrarian aspects. Following the sanction of the Public Forest Management Law (Law No.
11,284 of March 2, 2006) and the decentralization of responsibilities for the management of
environmental patrimony for the states, a set of state bodies, economic funds and policies are
created to, among other goals, increase the added value of forest products and services, as well
as the industrial diversification, technological development, use and training of local
entrepreneurs and regional labor. This, in the letter of the Law, is associated with respect for
the rights of the population, especially local communities, to access public forests and the
benefits ensuing their use and conservation. Given the significant time spanned from the first
concessions, this research strives to center the perspective of those who perceive the
degradation and to evaluate the generation of profit and concentration of income, the impacts
these public policies had in community life, what will be left for these communities, and what
the top-down development has represented for their lives.
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