Skip to main content

Raoni Rajão

UFMG - The Federal University of Minas Gerais, Department of Production Engineering, Faculty Member

Lancaster University, Organisation, Work and Technology, Alumnus

Followers

348

Following

45

Co-authors

21

Public Views

Raoni is professor in Social Studies of Science at the Department of Production Engineering at UFMG - Federal University of Minas Gerais. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science (Laurea in Informatica) from Universita degli studi di MILANO-BICOCCA (2005), MRes in IT, Management & Organisational Change and PhD in Organisation, Work and Technology, both from Lancaster University (2011). Raoni's research focuses on the relation between science, technology and policy, with a particular emphasis on environmental policy evaluation and the study of the role of ICT (information and communication technologies) in deforestation control policies and payment for environmental services. He has collaborated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) and Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM). At the moment he is the principal investigator of two research projects funded by CNPq and FAPEMIG.
Supervisors: Frank Blackler and Niall Hayes
Phone: +5531 3409 1776
Address: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Engenharia, Departamento de Engenharia de Produção.
Av. Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627
Pampulha
30161-010 - Belo Horizonte, MG - Brasil

less

InterestsView All (18)

Uploads

Papers by Raoni Rajão

Envisioning Amazonia: Geospatial technology, legality and the (dis)enchantments of infrastructure

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

Proofs ECOSER 782 Final

by Carlos Alberto Cioce Sampaio, Patrícia Bilotta, Humberto H L P Pennacchio, Lúcio Queiroz, Susanna Hecht, and Raoni Rajão

UNCORRECTED In this paper we use large scale spatially explicit modelling and case study based a... more UNCORRECTED

In this paper we use large scale spatially explicit modelling and case study based analyses to assess the links between recreational ecosystem services and the benefits for wellbeing of traditional livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon. Our results show that, at the scale of the Brazilian Amazon, associations between recreational ecosystem
services and extractivist activities of Brazil nut and rubber are very weak with no significant differences regarding Brazil nut (p =0.61) and rubber (p =0.41) income across the different tourism development classes.
However, qualitative analysis of the case studies reveals that where there are multifunctional livelihoods, recreational ecosystem services are indeed helping to enhance non timber forest product extractivist social values that otherwise would be suppressed by prevailing “cattle ranching” lifestyles. We therefore support innovative ways
to make both recreational ecosystem services and non timber forest products extraction not merely a juxtaposition of activities, but integrated into multifunctional livelihoods.

Adaptive Forest Governance in Northwestern Mato Grosso, Brazil: Pilot project outcomes across agrarian reform landscapes

by Robert B Davenport, Lucila De Vargas, and Raoni Rajão

Recent research on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has rarely included empirical observatio... more Recent research on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has rarely included empirical observation of how land managers perceive and respond to forest governance rules. In this case study, we consider how two decades of pilot projects for integrated conservation and sustainable development (ICDPs) variously influenced forest governance across three agrarian reform settlements in northwestern Mato Grosso state. The analysis combines: i) remote sensing of deforestation from 1997–2015; ii) land use and economic data for individual settler farms and cooperatives; iii) settlers' perceptions regarding legitimacy and relevance of state policies, including land use regulations under the Brazilian Forest Code. Deforestation across settlements varied in association with synergies – or lack thereof – between policy instruments and socially embedded rules organizing economic alternatives to the dominant regional pattern of cattle ranching. In two of the settlements deforestation surpassed or was approaching 80% of their total area. In the third settlement deforestation stabilized at 45%, corresponding with the initiation of ICDP support for a pilot project focused on Brazil nut extractivism to consolidate community management of the settlement's collective forest reserve. The latter process involved a 'policy mix' or sequence of overlapping components: technical assistance, cooperative organization, environmental licensing, infrastructure, equitable contracts with surrounding indigenous communities and market development. Comparing with the two counterfactual cases, we suggest a framework for analysis of systemic socio-ecological change in settlements in the Brazilian Amazon, and reconsider the role of ICDPs in landscape approaches to environmental governance in tropical forests.

The Rights and Wrongs of Brazil's Forest Monitoring Systems

by Laura Soares Veloso and Raoni Rajão

REGULARIZAÇÃO DO PASSIVO DE RESERVA LEGAL: PERCEPÇÃO DOS PRODUTORES RURAIS NO PARÁ E MATO GROSSO

by Rayane Pacheco and Raoni Rajão

Boundary work in climate policy making in Brazil: Reflections from the frontlines of the science-policy interface

by Felipe S M Nunes and Raoni Rajão

A B S T R A C T Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral repres... more A B S T R A C T Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral representation of the world, expert advisors are playing an increasingly central role in environmental policy-making in both the Global North and South. This article explores the science-policy interface, based on the experience of the main author as a scientist and policy-maker at FEAM, a state-level environmental agency in Brazil. Contributing to the literature on boundary objects and organizations, the article details the practices necessary to manage the relationship between political and scientific norms in the development of the regional Climate and Energy Plan (CEP) for the state of Minas Gerais. To sustain the role of FEAM as a boundary organization mediating between political and scientific demands, a team of scientists and policy-makers had to perform different types of boundary work in a closely connected manner. It was necessary to actively frame climate change as an economic problem, and structure its solution in terms of mitigation mechanisms. Responding to changes in the national and international political context, FEAM reframed climate change from mitigation into largely an adaptation issue that could lead to win-win solutions as to attain saliency and avoid insurmountable political obstacles for its approval. Based on this experience, the article argues that the performance of boundary objects and organizations in the science-policy interface not only requires an ability to bring 'truth to power' but to also the capacity to sense, anticipate and avoid political obstacles. For this reason even though boundary organizations provide a breeding ground for institutional learning it is an unsuitable location for scientific or political revolutions.

Enabling large-scale forest restoration in Minas Gerais state (Environmental Research Letters)

by Felipe S M Nunes, Raoni Rajão, and Frank Merry

Large-scale forest restoration is a cornerstone of Brazil's new Forest Code and a key element in ... more Large-scale forest restoration is a cornerstone of Brazil's new Forest Code and a key element in its National Determined Contribution (NDC) to emissions reduction. But the path to this target remains unclear due to a lack of information on its economics and implementation challenges. Here, we begin to fill this gap by developing a spatially-explicit model for Minas Gerais state that estimates the costs and benefits of native vegetation regeneration under different restoration approaches. Our results show that 36% (0.7 million ha) of the Forest Code debt in Minas Gerais can be restored using only passive restoration, at a cost of US$ 175 ± 47 million. Adding low-cost assisted natural regeneration would increase that number to 75% (1.5 million ha) at a cost of US$ 776 ± 137 million over a 20 yr period. This would result in a potential sequestration of 284 MtCO 2 e. However, including the intensive planting methods needed to restore the remaining 25% of highly degraded areas—to fully solve the Forest Code debt and result in a potential sequestration of 345 MtCO 2 e—would more than double the costs to US$ 1.7 ± 0.3 billion. Our results emphasize the need to implement regional policies that take advantage of the natural regeneration potential as well as prioritize the restoration of areas key to ecosystem services.

Reflexões sobre a instrumentalização do discurso participativo da AIA no Brasil

by Felipe Nabuco and Raoni Rajão

In times of review of the environmental licensing by the National Environment Council, this artic... more In times of review of the environmental licensing by the National Environment Council, this article presents reflections on popular participation in the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Brazil. The notes were based on the concept of instrumentalization of participation in a decision-making environment by Boezeman et al (2014), where participation is seen as a means for the public acceptance of a particular decision. The article presents a review of public participation in the EIA and the concept proposed by Boezeman et al (2014). Then, from the experience of the authors in conducting environmental licensing process at the federal level, considerations are made under the temporal issue, spatial scale and technical dialogues, that bring questions to the current participatory discourse of environmental licensing. From the perspective of time scale, it questions the absence of participatory mechanisms in other phases of the decision-making flow present in licensing out the time of the public hearings. The spatial approach seeks to illustrate how the spatial limitation of participatory tools introduced today influence the effectiveness of participation in the EIA. The considerations regarding the dialogues highlight the need to implement communication techniques equalize the mutual interaction between public and decision maker. The reflections on the three above perspectives illustrate elements that enhance the instrumentalization thesis of popular participation in this decision- making flow in the evaluation of Brazilian impact process. With developed notes, is expected to contribute to the discussions on the subject, especially as regards the review of existing participatory mechanisms to allow the effective influence of values, opinions and information coming from the public to the EIA and the consequent qualification making this decision in the environmental licensing.

The Rights and Wrongs of Brazil's Forest Monitoring Systems (Conservation Letters)

Co-Operation or Co-Optation? NGOs' Roles in Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (Forests)

by Raoni Rajão and Erlend Hermansen

This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes relat... more This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes related to Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) comparing four countries: Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Based on documents and interviews, NGO involvement is mapped using a conceptual framework to categorise and compare different roles and modes of engagement. NGOs have cooperated with government in policy design and implementation, albeit to varying degrees, in all four countries, but expressed relatively little public criticism. Funding seems to have an influence on NGOs' choices regarding whether, what, when, and how to criticise. However, limited public criticism does not necessarily mean that the NGOs are co-opted. They are reflexive regarding their possible operating space, and act strategically and pragmatically to pursue their goals in an entrepreneurial manner. The interests of NGOs and NICFI are to a large extent congruent. Instead of publicly criticising a global initiative that they largely support, and thus put the initiative as a whole at risk, NGOs may use other, more informal, channels to voice points of disagreement. While NGOs do indeed run the risk of being co-opted, their opportunity to resist this fate is probably greater in this instance than is usually the case because NICFI are so reliant on their services.

Scientists as citizens and knowers in the detection of deforestation in the Amazon

by Marko Monteiro and Raoni Rajão

This paper examines how scientists deal with tensions emerging from their role as providers of ob... more This paper examines how scientists deal with tensions emerging from their role as providers of objective knowledge and as citizens concerned with how their research influences policy and politics in Brazil. This is accomplished through an ethnographic account of scientists using remote sensing technology, of their knowledge-making activities and of the broader socio-political controversies that permeate the detection of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Strategies for mitigating uncertainty are central aspects of the knowledge practices analyzed, bringing controversies 'external' to the laboratory 'into' the lab, making these boundaries conceptually problematic. In particular, the anticipation of alternative interpretations of rainforest cover is a crucial way that scientists bring the world into the lab, helping to shed light on how scientists, usually seen and analyzed as isolated, are in fact often in constant dialogue with the broader political controversies related to their work. These insights help question the idea that the monitoring of deforestation through remote sensing is a form of secluded research, drawing a more complex picture of the dual role of scientists as knowledge producers and concerned citizens.

Brazil’s Market for Trading Forest Certificates (PLoS One)

Brazil faces an enormous challenge to implement its revised Forest Code. Despite big losses for t... more Brazil faces an enormous challenge to implement its revised Forest Code. Despite big losses for the environment, the law introduces new mechanisms to facilitate compliance and foster payment for ecosystem services (PES). The most promising of these is a market for trading forest certificates (CRAs) that allows landowners to offset their restoration obligations by paying for maintaining native vegetation elsewhere. We analyzed the economic potential for the emerging CRA market in Brazil and its implications for PES programs. Results indicate a potential market for trading 4.2 Mha of CRAs with a gross value of US$ 9.2±2.4 billion, with main regional markets forming in the states of Mato Grosso and São Paulo. This would be the largest market for trading forests in the world. Overall, the potential supply of CRAs in Brazilian states exceeds demand, creating an opportunity for additional PES programs to use the CRA market. This expanded market could provide not only monetary incentives to conserve native vegetation, but also environmental co-benefits by fostering PES programs focused on biodiversity, water conservation, and climate regulation. Effective implementation of the Forest Code will be vital to the success of this market and this hurdle brings uncertainty into the market. Long-term commitment, both within Brazil and abroad, will be essential to overcome the many challenges ahead.

Boundary work in climate policy making in Brazil: Reflections from the frontlines of the science-policy interface (Environmental Science & Policy)

Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral representation of the ... more Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral representation of the world, expert advisors are playing an increasingly central role in environmental policy-making in both the Global North and South. This article explores the science-policy interface, based on the experience of the main author as a scientist and policy-maker at FEAM, a state-level environmental agency in Brazil. Contributing to the literature on boundary objects and organizations, the article details the practices necessary to manage the relationship between political and scientific norms in the development of the regional Climate and Energy Plan (CEP) for the state of Minas Gerais. To sustain the role of FEAM as a boundary organization mediating between political and scientific demands, a team of scientists and policy-makers had to perform different types of boundary work in a closely connected manner. It was necessary to actively frame climate change as an economic problem, and structure its solution in terms of mitigation mechanisms. Responding to changes in the national and international political context, FEAM reframed climate change from mitigation into largely an adaptation issue that could lead to win-win solutions as to attain saliency and avoid insurmountable political obstacles for its approval. Based on this experience, the article argues that the performance of boundary objects and organizations in the science-policy interface not only requires an ability to bring 'truth to power' but to also the capacity to sense, anticipate and avoid political obstacles. For this reason even though boundary organizations provide a breeding ground for institutional learning it is an unsuitable location for scientific or political revolutions.

Policies undermine Brazil’s GHG goals (Science)

Increased forest governance in the Amazon led to a substantial reduction in deforestation (1, 2).... more Increased forest governance in the Amazon led to a substantial reduction in deforestation (1, 2). However, this biome still has 12 million hectares (Mha) of native forests that could be legally deforested (2) and 39 Mha of undesignated land (3) open for land grabbing and new settlement projects. The situation is particularly worrisome in the Cerrado biome—the most coveted region for agribusiness expansion—where 80% of the private property can be legally deforested. Deforestation in the Cerrado currently contributes to 26% of emissions from land use change and is expected to increase because the biome contains 40 Mha (of which 11 Mha are highly suitable for soybeans) that could be legally deforested (2, 5). Therefore, enforcement of the Forest Code unaccompanied by additional conservation policies, such as payment for ecosystem services and protected area expansion, is unlikely to curb emissions from deforestation to the levels promised by Brazil’s INDC.

Between Indians and “cowboys”: the role of ICT in the management of contradictory self-images and the production of carbon credits in the Brazilian Amazon (Journal of Information Technology)

by Raoni Rajão and Camilla Marcolino

In this paper we draw upon Goffman’s symbolic interactionism to analyze the ways in new users in ... more In this paper we draw upon Goffman’s symbolic interactionism to analyze the ways in new users in developing countries have adopted ICT to present and manage contradictory self-images to different groups of the public. In particular, we show that the Acapú, an indigenous group in the Amazon, present themselves through online videos and websites as ideal Indians: innate forest stewards aiming to mitigate climate change and ensure the planet’s environmental sustainability. However, at the same time, the Acapú are also represented through complex computer models as destructive “cowboys”: farmers and ranchers who are willing to develop by clearing their forests in the absence of financial compensation. This research shows that these two opposing self-images, while contradictory, are necessary for the implementation of REDD projects (a payment mechanism for reducing greenhouse emissions from deforestation). In order to obtain carbon credits from avoided deforestation, the project relies on the differences between deforestation measurements and high levels of predicted deforestation, which in turn, depend on the presentation of destructive self-images through the use of black box computer simulations. However, in order to sell these credits on a voluntary carbon market, it is necessary for the Acapú to openly market a self-image through the Internet which is attractive to corporate buyers willing to boost their eco-friendly profile. Based on this analysis the paper challenges the narrative whereby Southern ICT users are passive receivers of technological black boxes. In contrast it shows that in some cases these new users may participate in the creation of ICT artifacts to manage the impressions of distant audiences. Furthermore, the paper calls attention to the role of computer simulations and other ICT applications in concealing the paradoxes of neoliberal environmental management practices.

Blame Games in the Amazon: Environmental Crises and the Emergence of a Transparency Regime in Brazil (Global Environmental Politics, 14:4)

This article contributes to the study of the informational turn in environ- mental governance. It... more This article contributes to the study of the informational turn in environ- mental governance. It examines the emergence and evolution since the late 1980s of a transparency regime created by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Over the years, INPE’s transparency regime has become the main “thermometer” used by Brazilian and international civil society to evaluate the government’s performance in tackling deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.6 It is for this reason that Brazil is often cited as the “most advanced country,” “the vanguard of technology,” and even “the envy of the world” when it comes to the creation of a MRV system for REDD+ and other international initiatives in the forest sector.7 The longitudinal study of INPE’s transparency regime juxtaposes transparency, the normative doctrine for the conduct of envi- ronmental governance, with blame-avoidance, an instrumental force widely considered as a dominant motivation of elected politicians and bureaucrats.8 In the remainder of the article we argue that blame-avoidance strategies are the instruments most likely to be used by accountors in their attempt to discount charges of irreparable loss and of historical proportions made by global and national accountees. We analyze two key moments in INPE’s transparency regime to illustrate how a certain blame-avoidance strategy may cause a future crisis and necessitate a new coping line of counter-attack, as the social context changes. Finally, we discuss the contributions of this article to the academic and environ- mental policy communities.

Conceptions of control and IT artefacts: an institutional account of the Amazon rainforest monitoring system

by Raoni Rajão and Niall Hayes

Journal of Information Technology, Jan 1, 2009

Based on Fligstein&amp;#x27;s (1990) work on &amp;#x27;conceptions of control&amp;#x2... more Based on Fligstein&amp;#x27;s (1990) work on &amp;#x27;conceptions of control&amp;#x27; (broad managerial paradigms), this paper provides an analysis of the ways in which information technology (IT) artefacts shape and are shaped by institutional contexts. Specifically, we report on primary and secondary ...

The parallel materialization of REDD + implementation discourses in Brazil (Forest Policy and Economics)

by Raoni Rajão and Richard Van Der Hoff

he concept of Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) dominates international debat... more he concept of Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) dominates international debates on the role of forests in climate change mitigation, but concrete implementation remains a challenge. In contrast to this general trend, Brazil emerged as a noteworthy exception due to the widespread implementation of major REDD+ initiatives. This research paper aims at understanding the implementation of REDD+ in Brazil from a dis- cursive perspective. The analysis identifies two discourses that are guiding the implementation of REDD+ in dif- ferent ways. On the one hand, advocates of a sustainable development discourse conceive REDD+ as a centralized mechanism to foster pre-existing deforestation control and sustainable economic activities through centralized mechanisms such as the Amazon Fund. On the other hand, a number of disconnected actors follow a carbon commodification discourse inspired by the idea of neoliberal conservation and create REDD+ projects to provide carbon offset to voluntary markets. The analysis of these discourses reveal that implementation processes do not rely on discursive convergence, but rather culminate in the parallel development and implementation of distinct REDD+ discourses that are at the same time competing, coexisting and collaborating on different levels.

Voices from within and Outside the South: Defying STS Epistemologies, Boundaries, and Theories (STHV)

Blame Games in the Amazon: Environmental Crises and the Emergence of a Transparency Regime in Brazil (STHV)

Envisioning Amazonia: Geospatial technology, legality and the (dis)enchantments of infrastructure

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

Proofs ECOSER 782 Final

by Carlos Alberto Cioce Sampaio, Patrícia Bilotta, Humberto H L P Pennacchio, Lúcio Queiroz, Susanna Hecht, and Raoni Rajão

UNCORRECTED In this paper we use large scale spatially explicit modelling and case study based a... more UNCORRECTED

In this paper we use large scale spatially explicit modelling and case study based analyses to assess the links between recreational ecosystem services and the benefits for wellbeing of traditional livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon. Our results show that, at the scale of the Brazilian Amazon, associations between recreational ecosystem
services and extractivist activities of Brazil nut and rubber are very weak with no significant differences regarding Brazil nut (p =0.61) and rubber (p =0.41) income across the different tourism development classes.
However, qualitative analysis of the case studies reveals that where there are multifunctional livelihoods, recreational ecosystem services are indeed helping to enhance non timber forest product extractivist social values that otherwise would be suppressed by prevailing “cattle ranching” lifestyles. We therefore support innovative ways
to make both recreational ecosystem services and non timber forest products extraction not merely a juxtaposition of activities, but integrated into multifunctional livelihoods.

Adaptive Forest Governance in Northwestern Mato Grosso, Brazil: Pilot project outcomes across agrarian reform landscapes

by Robert B Davenport, Lucila De Vargas, and Raoni Rajão

Recent research on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has rarely included empirical observatio... more Recent research on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has rarely included empirical observation of how land managers perceive and respond to forest governance rules. In this case study, we consider how two decades of pilot projects for integrated conservation and sustainable development (ICDPs) variously influenced forest governance across three agrarian reform settlements in northwestern Mato Grosso state. The analysis combines: i) remote sensing of deforestation from 1997–2015; ii) land use and economic data for individual settler farms and cooperatives; iii) settlers' perceptions regarding legitimacy and relevance of state policies, including land use regulations under the Brazilian Forest Code. Deforestation across settlements varied in association with synergies – or lack thereof – between policy instruments and socially embedded rules organizing economic alternatives to the dominant regional pattern of cattle ranching. In two of the settlements deforestation surpassed or was approaching 80% of their total area. In the third settlement deforestation stabilized at 45%, corresponding with the initiation of ICDP support for a pilot project focused on Brazil nut extractivism to consolidate community management of the settlement's collective forest reserve. The latter process involved a 'policy mix' or sequence of overlapping components: technical assistance, cooperative organization, environmental licensing, infrastructure, equitable contracts with surrounding indigenous communities and market development. Comparing with the two counterfactual cases, we suggest a framework for analysis of systemic socio-ecological change in settlements in the Brazilian Amazon, and reconsider the role of ICDPs in landscape approaches to environmental governance in tropical forests.

The Rights and Wrongs of Brazil's Forest Monitoring Systems

by Laura Soares Veloso and Raoni Rajão

REGULARIZAÇÃO DO PASSIVO DE RESERVA LEGAL: PERCEPÇÃO DOS PRODUTORES RURAIS NO PARÁ E MATO GROSSO

by Rayane Pacheco and Raoni Rajão

Boundary work in climate policy making in Brazil: Reflections from the frontlines of the science-policy interface

by Felipe S M Nunes and Raoni Rajão

A B S T R A C T Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral repres... more A B S T R A C T Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral representation of the world, expert advisors are playing an increasingly central role in environmental policy-making in both the Global North and South. This article explores the science-policy interface, based on the experience of the main author as a scientist and policy-maker at FEAM, a state-level environmental agency in Brazil. Contributing to the literature on boundary objects and organizations, the article details the practices necessary to manage the relationship between political and scientific norms in the development of the regional Climate and Energy Plan (CEP) for the state of Minas Gerais. To sustain the role of FEAM as a boundary organization mediating between political and scientific demands, a team of scientists and policy-makers had to perform different types of boundary work in a closely connected manner. It was necessary to actively frame climate change as an economic problem, and structure its solution in terms of mitigation mechanisms. Responding to changes in the national and international political context, FEAM reframed climate change from mitigation into largely an adaptation issue that could lead to win-win solutions as to attain saliency and avoid insurmountable political obstacles for its approval. Based on this experience, the article argues that the performance of boundary objects and organizations in the science-policy interface not only requires an ability to bring 'truth to power' but to also the capacity to sense, anticipate and avoid political obstacles. For this reason even though boundary organizations provide a breeding ground for institutional learning it is an unsuitable location for scientific or political revolutions.

Enabling large-scale forest restoration in Minas Gerais state (Environmental Research Letters)

by Felipe S M Nunes, Raoni Rajão, and Frank Merry

Large-scale forest restoration is a cornerstone of Brazil's new Forest Code and a key element in ... more Large-scale forest restoration is a cornerstone of Brazil's new Forest Code and a key element in its National Determined Contribution (NDC) to emissions reduction. But the path to this target remains unclear due to a lack of information on its economics and implementation challenges. Here, we begin to fill this gap by developing a spatially-explicit model for Minas Gerais state that estimates the costs and benefits of native vegetation regeneration under different restoration approaches. Our results show that 36% (0.7 million ha) of the Forest Code debt in Minas Gerais can be restored using only passive restoration, at a cost of US$ 175 ± 47 million. Adding low-cost assisted natural regeneration would increase that number to 75% (1.5 million ha) at a cost of US$ 776 ± 137 million over a 20 yr period. This would result in a potential sequestration of 284 MtCO 2 e. However, including the intensive planting methods needed to restore the remaining 25% of highly degraded areas—to fully solve the Forest Code debt and result in a potential sequestration of 345 MtCO 2 e—would more than double the costs to US$ 1.7 ± 0.3 billion. Our results emphasize the need to implement regional policies that take advantage of the natural regeneration potential as well as prioritize the restoration of areas key to ecosystem services.

Reflexões sobre a instrumentalização do discurso participativo da AIA no Brasil

by Felipe Nabuco and Raoni Rajão

In times of review of the environmental licensing by the National Environment Council, this artic... more In times of review of the environmental licensing by the National Environment Council, this article presents reflections on popular participation in the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Brazil. The notes were based on the concept of instrumentalization of participation in a decision-making environment by Boezeman et al (2014), where participation is seen as a means for the public acceptance of a particular decision. The article presents a review of public participation in the EIA and the concept proposed by Boezeman et al (2014). Then, from the experience of the authors in conducting environmental licensing process at the federal level, considerations are made under the temporal issue, spatial scale and technical dialogues, that bring questions to the current participatory discourse of environmental licensing. From the perspective of time scale, it questions the absence of participatory mechanisms in other phases of the decision-making flow present in licensing out the time of the public hearings. The spatial approach seeks to illustrate how the spatial limitation of participatory tools introduced today influence the effectiveness of participation in the EIA. The considerations regarding the dialogues highlight the need to implement communication techniques equalize the mutual interaction between public and decision maker. The reflections on the three above perspectives illustrate elements that enhance the instrumentalization thesis of popular participation in this decision- making flow in the evaluation of Brazilian impact process. With developed notes, is expected to contribute to the discussions on the subject, especially as regards the review of existing participatory mechanisms to allow the effective influence of values, opinions and information coming from the public to the EIA and the consequent qualification making this decision in the environmental licensing.

The Rights and Wrongs of Brazil's Forest Monitoring Systems (Conservation Letters)

Co-Operation or Co-Optation? NGOs' Roles in Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (Forests)

by Raoni Rajão and Erlend Hermansen

This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes relat... more This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes related to Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) comparing four countries: Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Based on documents and interviews, NGO involvement is mapped using a conceptual framework to categorise and compare different roles and modes of engagement. NGOs have cooperated with government in policy design and implementation, albeit to varying degrees, in all four countries, but expressed relatively little public criticism. Funding seems to have an influence on NGOs' choices regarding whether, what, when, and how to criticise. However, limited public criticism does not necessarily mean that the NGOs are co-opted. They are reflexive regarding their possible operating space, and act strategically and pragmatically to pursue their goals in an entrepreneurial manner. The interests of NGOs and NICFI are to a large extent congruent. Instead of publicly criticising a global initiative that they largely support, and thus put the initiative as a whole at risk, NGOs may use other, more informal, channels to voice points of disagreement. While NGOs do indeed run the risk of being co-opted, their opportunity to resist this fate is probably greater in this instance than is usually the case because NICFI are so reliant on their services.

Scientists as citizens and knowers in the detection of deforestation in the Amazon

by Marko Monteiro and Raoni Rajão

This paper examines how scientists deal with tensions emerging from their role as providers of ob... more This paper examines how scientists deal with tensions emerging from their role as providers of objective knowledge and as citizens concerned with how their research influences policy and politics in Brazil. This is accomplished through an ethnographic account of scientists using remote sensing technology, of their knowledge-making activities and of the broader socio-political controversies that permeate the detection of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Strategies for mitigating uncertainty are central aspects of the knowledge practices analyzed, bringing controversies 'external' to the laboratory 'into' the lab, making these boundaries conceptually problematic. In particular, the anticipation of alternative interpretations of rainforest cover is a crucial way that scientists bring the world into the lab, helping to shed light on how scientists, usually seen and analyzed as isolated, are in fact often in constant dialogue with the broader political controversies related to their work. These insights help question the idea that the monitoring of deforestation through remote sensing is a form of secluded research, drawing a more complex picture of the dual role of scientists as knowledge producers and concerned citizens.

Brazil’s Market for Trading Forest Certificates (PLoS One)

Brazil faces an enormous challenge to implement its revised Forest Code. Despite big losses for t... more Brazil faces an enormous challenge to implement its revised Forest Code. Despite big losses for the environment, the law introduces new mechanisms to facilitate compliance and foster payment for ecosystem services (PES). The most promising of these is a market for trading forest certificates (CRAs) that allows landowners to offset their restoration obligations by paying for maintaining native vegetation elsewhere. We analyzed the economic potential for the emerging CRA market in Brazil and its implications for PES programs. Results indicate a potential market for trading 4.2 Mha of CRAs with a gross value of US$ 9.2±2.4 billion, with main regional markets forming in the states of Mato Grosso and São Paulo. This would be the largest market for trading forests in the world. Overall, the potential supply of CRAs in Brazilian states exceeds demand, creating an opportunity for additional PES programs to use the CRA market. This expanded market could provide not only monetary incentives to conserve native vegetation, but also environmental co-benefits by fostering PES programs focused on biodiversity, water conservation, and climate regulation. Effective implementation of the Forest Code will be vital to the success of this market and this hurdle brings uncertainty into the market. Long-term commitment, both within Brazil and abroad, will be essential to overcome the many challenges ahead.

Boundary work in climate policy making in Brazil: Reflections from the frontlines of the science-policy interface (Environmental Science & Policy)

Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral representation of the ... more Despite challenges to the authority and legitimacy of science as a neutral representation of the world, expert advisors are playing an increasingly central role in environmental policy-making in both the Global North and South. This article explores the science-policy interface, based on the experience of the main author as a scientist and policy-maker at FEAM, a state-level environmental agency in Brazil. Contributing to the literature on boundary objects and organizations, the article details the practices necessary to manage the relationship between political and scientific norms in the development of the regional Climate and Energy Plan (CEP) for the state of Minas Gerais. To sustain the role of FEAM as a boundary organization mediating between political and scientific demands, a team of scientists and policy-makers had to perform different types of boundary work in a closely connected manner. It was necessary to actively frame climate change as an economic problem, and structure its solution in terms of mitigation mechanisms. Responding to changes in the national and international political context, FEAM reframed climate change from mitigation into largely an adaptation issue that could lead to win-win solutions as to attain saliency and avoid insurmountable political obstacles for its approval. Based on this experience, the article argues that the performance of boundary objects and organizations in the science-policy interface not only requires an ability to bring 'truth to power' but to also the capacity to sense, anticipate and avoid political obstacles. For this reason even though boundary organizations provide a breeding ground for institutional learning it is an unsuitable location for scientific or political revolutions.

Policies undermine Brazil’s GHG goals (Science)

Increased forest governance in the Amazon led to a substantial reduction in deforestation (1, 2).... more Increased forest governance in the Amazon led to a substantial reduction in deforestation (1, 2). However, this biome still has 12 million hectares (Mha) of native forests that could be legally deforested (2) and 39 Mha of undesignated land (3) open for land grabbing and new settlement projects. The situation is particularly worrisome in the Cerrado biome—the most coveted region for agribusiness expansion—where 80% of the private property can be legally deforested. Deforestation in the Cerrado currently contributes to 26% of emissions from land use change and is expected to increase because the biome contains 40 Mha (of which 11 Mha are highly suitable for soybeans) that could be legally deforested (2, 5). Therefore, enforcement of the Forest Code unaccompanied by additional conservation policies, such as payment for ecosystem services and protected area expansion, is unlikely to curb emissions from deforestation to the levels promised by Brazil’s INDC.

Between Indians and “cowboys”: the role of ICT in the management of contradictory self-images and the production of carbon credits in the Brazilian Amazon (Journal of Information Technology)

by Raoni Rajão and Camilla Marcolino

In this paper we draw upon Goffman’s symbolic interactionism to analyze the ways in new users in ... more In this paper we draw upon Goffman’s symbolic interactionism to analyze the ways in new users in developing countries have adopted ICT to present and manage contradictory self-images to different groups of the public. In particular, we show that the Acapú, an indigenous group in the Amazon, present themselves through online videos and websites as ideal Indians: innate forest stewards aiming to mitigate climate change and ensure the planet’s environmental sustainability. However, at the same time, the Acapú are also represented through complex computer models as destructive “cowboys”: farmers and ranchers who are willing to develop by clearing their forests in the absence of financial compensation. This research shows that these two opposing self-images, while contradictory, are necessary for the implementation of REDD projects (a payment mechanism for reducing greenhouse emissions from deforestation). In order to obtain carbon credits from avoided deforestation, the project relies on the differences between deforestation measurements and high levels of predicted deforestation, which in turn, depend on the presentation of destructive self-images through the use of black box computer simulations. However, in order to sell these credits on a voluntary carbon market, it is necessary for the Acapú to openly market a self-image through the Internet which is attractive to corporate buyers willing to boost their eco-friendly profile. Based on this analysis the paper challenges the narrative whereby Southern ICT users are passive receivers of technological black boxes. In contrast it shows that in some cases these new users may participate in the creation of ICT artifacts to manage the impressions of distant audiences. Furthermore, the paper calls attention to the role of computer simulations and other ICT applications in concealing the paradoxes of neoliberal environmental management practices.

Blame Games in the Amazon: Environmental Crises and the Emergence of a Transparency Regime in Brazil (Global Environmental Politics, 14:4)

This article contributes to the study of the informational turn in environ- mental governance. It... more This article contributes to the study of the informational turn in environ- mental governance. It examines the emergence and evolution since the late 1980s of a transparency regime created by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Over the years, INPE’s transparency regime has become the main “thermometer” used by Brazilian and international civil society to evaluate the government’s performance in tackling deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.6 It is for this reason that Brazil is often cited as the “most advanced country,” “the vanguard of technology,” and even “the envy of the world” when it comes to the creation of a MRV system for REDD+ and other international initiatives in the forest sector.7 The longitudinal study of INPE’s transparency regime juxtaposes transparency, the normative doctrine for the conduct of envi- ronmental governance, with blame-avoidance, an instrumental force widely considered as a dominant motivation of elected politicians and bureaucrats.8 In the remainder of the article we argue that blame-avoidance strategies are the instruments most likely to be used by accountors in their attempt to discount charges of irreparable loss and of historical proportions made by global and national accountees. We analyze two key moments in INPE’s transparency regime to illustrate how a certain blame-avoidance strategy may cause a future crisis and necessitate a new coping line of counter-attack, as the social context changes. Finally, we discuss the contributions of this article to the academic and environ- mental policy communities.

Conceptions of control and IT artefacts: an institutional account of the Amazon rainforest monitoring system

by Raoni Rajão and Niall Hayes

Journal of Information Technology, Jan 1, 2009

Based on Fligstein&amp;#x27;s (1990) work on &amp;#x27;conceptions of control&amp;#x2... more Based on Fligstein&amp;#x27;s (1990) work on &amp;#x27;conceptions of control&amp;#x27; (broad managerial paradigms), this paper provides an analysis of the ways in which information technology (IT) artefacts shape and are shaped by institutional contexts. Specifically, we report on primary and secondary ...

The parallel materialization of REDD + implementation discourses in Brazil (Forest Policy and Economics)

by Raoni Rajão and Richard Van Der Hoff

he concept of Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) dominates international debat... more he concept of Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) dominates international debates on the role of forests in climate change mitigation, but concrete implementation remains a challenge. In contrast to this general trend, Brazil emerged as a noteworthy exception due to the widespread implementation of major REDD+ initiatives. This research paper aims at understanding the implementation of REDD+ in Brazil from a dis- cursive perspective. The analysis identifies two discourses that are guiding the implementation of REDD+ in dif- ferent ways. On the one hand, advocates of a sustainable development discourse conceive REDD+ as a centralized mechanism to foster pre-existing deforestation control and sustainable economic activities through centralized mechanisms such as the Amazon Fund. On the other hand, a number of disconnected actors follow a carbon commodification discourse inspired by the idea of neoliberal conservation and create REDD+ projects to provide carbon offset to voluntary markets. The analysis of these discourses reveal that implementation processes do not rely on discursive convergence, but rather culminate in the parallel development and implementation of distinct REDD+ discourses that are at the same time competing, coexisting and collaborating on different levels.

Voices from within and Outside the South: Defying STS Epistemologies, Boundaries, and Theories (STHV)

Blame Games in the Amazon: Environmental Crises and the Emergence of a Transparency Regime in Brazil (STHV)

Código Florestal e o alcance do desmatamento ilegal zero (ANDI, CI)

O evento de qualificação para jornalistas “Código Florestal e o Alcance do Desmatamento Ilegal Ze... more O evento de qualificação para jornalistas “Código Florestal e o Alcance do Desmatamento Ilegal Zero” aconteceu nos dias 29 e 30 de março, promovido pela ANDI – Comunicação e Direitos e pela Conservação Internacional, como o apoio da CLUA – Aliança pelo Clima e Uso da Terra. O encontro, direcionado a jornalistas, debateu as implicações do Código Florestal como legislação essencial para a preservação da Amazônia.

Programa Tessituras - PUC TV

Participação no programa Tessituras da PUC TV sobre o tema "Tecnologia na vida cotidiana"

Amazônia e Mudança Climática - Brasil das Gerais, 2010

Resilient Technologies, Resilient Knowledge Communities, Resilient Cultures - Colloquium kickoff with Rick Duque and Raoni Rajão

This talk, a conversation with Rick Duque, Isabella Wagner, and Sonja Weber from the University o... more This talk, a conversation with Rick Duque, Isabella Wagner, and Sonja Weber from the University of Vienna and Raoni Rajão, from Lancaster University, kicks off the two day colloquium Practicing Science, Technology, and Rhetoric: The North-South Divide in an Emerging Global Order. The colloquium will highlight work being done at the University of Minnesota exploring the interdependent and global nature of contemporary science and technology practices. Cosponsored by the Department of Writing Studies, the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC), the Office of Information Technology, and the College of Liberal Arts.

Interview with Raoni Rajão

Raoni Guerra Lucas Rajao is a research student at Lancaster University Management School where hi... more Raoni Guerra Lucas Rajao is a research student at Lancaster University Management School where his thesis is entitled, "Objects, boundaries and joint work: the role of GIS in the formulation and enforcement of deforestation control policies in Amazonia." thesis analyzes how GIS technology emerged as a central element in policy-making, and how it has been implicated in law enforcement practices involving different agencies and professional groups. Specifically, GIS has been conceptualized as a boundary object that in some circumstances is able to offer a common ground that facilitates joint work across occupational, spatial and political boundaries. Out of this analysis emerges the importance of understanding the implications of the process of objectification related to the use of GIS, and importance of fostering more engaged forms of collaboration in order to improve the deforestation control policies in the Amazon.

Video at: http://ias.umn.edu/2011/04/28/rajao-raoni/

Cotas de reserva ambiental (CRA): potencial e viabilidade econômica do mercado no Brasil