ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study, which examines the distributive justice claims outsiders have made to the preservation of the Amazonian rain forest. Brazil has argued that outsiders have no moral claim to Amazonia. The Amazon rain forest is the world’s largest contiguous tropical moist forest, and 3.8 million square kilometers of it are found within the borders of Brazil. The Brazilian government has argued that if Amazonia is not exploited, Brazil has no other way to produce goods for export on the international market, to industrialize in order to attract foreign capital, to provide land and food for its population, nor to develop hydroelectric energy. For Brazil, the development of Amazonia is a domestic issue, and not an international one. The rate of conversion of Amazonian rain forest into grassland is itself a source of considerable controversy. In 1970, the Brazilian government established the National Integration Program.
