DOI

10.1007/s10708-011-9430-x

Abstract

The cultivation and traffic of coca, Erythrolxylum coca, and coca derivatives remain understudied threats to the conservation of the Amazon rainforest. Currently the crop is transforming land use and livelihoods in the ecologically and culturally rich borderlands of Amazonian Peru. The isolated nature of this region characterized by indigenous populations (both settled and uncontacted), conservation units, resource concessions, and a lack of state presence provides fertile ground for the boom and bust cycle of coca production and facilitates the international transport of the product to neighboring Brazil. This paper explores the social and environmental impacts of coca production, eradication, and transport through an analysis of both spatial and ethnographic data on land use and livelihood strategies along the Ucayali and Purús Rivers. Results map out the regional distribution and recent history of commercial coca fields and transboundary transportation routes and identify threats to the conservation of indigenous landscapes and borderland forests.

Document Type

Post-print Article

Publication Date

8-11-2011

Comments

NOTE: Figures and Tables are at the end of the article document.

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Article first published online: 11 Aug 2011.

DOI: 10.1007/s10708-011-9430-x.

The definitive version is available at:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-011-9430-x

Full citation:

Salisbury, D.S., and C. Fagan. "Coca and Conservation: Cultivation, Eradication, and Trafficking in the Amazon Borderlands." GeoJournal 78, no. 1 (August 11, 2011): 41-60. doi: 10.1007/s10708-011-9430-x.

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