ENVS 154 Amazonian Cultures and Conservation

The Amazon rainforest in South America is one of the most biologically and culturally diverse biomes on the planet, playing a critical role in the global carbon cycle and hemispheric hydrological systems. Its survival is threatened by oil, mining, agribusiness, logging and other forms of extraction -- activities that perpetuate violence, dispossession and environmental injustice against Indigenous peoples. This course centers the cultural richness, ecological care, political advocacy, and complex livelihoods of Native Amazonian societies, focusing on the lessons they offer for more just and anti-colonial approaches to conservation.