Prologue: Sustainable Development, Economic Growth and the Fate of Tropical Forests

*Gabriel de Oliveira, Nathaniel A. Brunsell, Yosio E. Shimabukuro and Carlos A.C. dos Santos*

### **1. Tropical deforestation and its actors**

We are experiencing, especially in the past few years, critical discussions, both in science and in the general public, about the role of tropical forests to support a more sustainable world, and how we can act to protect these ecosystems [1, 2]. There is a significant concern, especially in developing countries, on how to obtain economic growth using the natural resources within the areas covered by pristine forests without compromising future generations to meet their own needs.

The sustainable development is based on the balance or trade-offs between economic, environmental and social sustainability. It seems to be a simple equation; however, it is important to consider that many actors are included in these three pillars, and to find a common point between them is often complicated. So, how to convince a farmer that it is not possible to extend the area used for agriculture because there is a natural preserved area nearby? Or how to convince mining companies that it is not possible to clear-cut the forest for oil/natural gas exploration since the land is located within an indigenous reserve? And how to convince the urban population that is better to preserve the forest standing instead of producing meat or corn for their food needs or oil/natural gas for their transportation? As we can see, this balancing is not easy to achieve, especially when we talk about developing countries and their need to make economic growth at all costs.

Most of the funding to protect the tropical forests against deforestation in developing countries comes from developed countries that need to achieve their own goals on reducing emissions of carbon to the atmosphere, thus mitigating the impacts caused by climate change. This started in the mid-1990s with the Kyoto Protocol and has been ratified more recently, in 2015, with the Paris Agreement. There has been a considerable scepticism, especially in the population of third world countries, about the fact that developed countries feel entitled to the areas covered by tropical forests, especially the Amazon, because they fund programs to protect and study these regions, and they are neither completely wrong nor completely right. There are two things to be highlighted here. The first is that no country should feel entitled to the vast and luxurious Amazon forest just because they send funds for protection and research. The second is that yet the majority of the Amazon forest belongs to Brazil, and for the indigenous people who live there, this ecosystem acts as a large carbon sink and an enormous source of water to the atmosphere and is of fundamental importance to the survival of future generations.
