The institutionalization of extractive reserves in 1990 represented a landmark in the decentralization of environmental policies in Brazil. However, their incorporation into the National System of Protected Areas in 2000 led to changes in the model, from self-management conceived by rupper tappers to co-management arrangements with the government. This research examined different perspectives of natural resource governance in the co-management of the Lower Juruá Extractive Reserve (LJER), in the central-western Brazilian Amazon, involving the federal government (ICMBio) and local communities.Through an interdisciplinary approach and employing both qualitative and quantitative methods, I investigated the extent to which co-management permits the sharing of authority over natural resources, and its implications for rule compliance. In a context where communities have management rights, such as in pirarucu management, I examined the role of social capital in facilitating collective action, as well as the multiple factors of social-ecological systems affecting the sustainability of pirarucu management. Results showed that under extractive reserve co-management, government shares little authority to communities with regard to natural resource governance, but that community participation in rule making is key for rule compliance. In the case of pirarucu management, I found that communities with higher social capital exhibited higher engagement in collective action. I found that multiple factors account for the sustainability of pirarucu management: leadership, community monitoring, participation in decision-making, group homogeneity, and social capital. This research provides insights relevant to scholarship on extractive reserves, decentralization common property theory, social capital, and fisheries co-management, with implications for policy making, serving both government and grassroots organizations
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