ABSTRACT
Introduction Established in 1990, the creation of the Extractive Reserve Chico Mendes (ERCM) regularised the landed property rights of the rubber estates of Southern Acre, where the rubber tappers’ struggle against the cattle ranchers had started, and of many other seringais in the vicinity. With the establishment of the reserve, the quality of life of rubber tappers in the area has undoubtedly improved: they have secure property rights to their stands, and for the first time in their lives they receive external aid, mainly through the PP-G7. The conservation of the forest also seems more assured than before the establishment of the reserve, since tapping rubber does not require the removal of the forest cover, and ranchers and land speculators have been evicted from the area. In sum, given the provisions of the legislation and the help provided by the PP-G7, designed both to protect the reserve from outsiders, and to encourage rubber tappers to harmoniously explore the forest, natural resources in the ERCM, as well as in all other extractive reserves, ought to be sustainably used.
