The illusory paradise revisited.

Abstract

This article is a translation of the Epilogue in the Revised Edition of Amazônia, originally published in 1971, and reprinted by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1996. It summarizes climatological, biological, ethnographic, and archaeological data accumulated since 1971, which support and amplify the original interpretations. Unfortunately, the unique properties of the Amazonian ecosystem continue to be ignored by national and foreign governments and corporations, in spite of the failure of ambitious projects of “development”and the acceleration of environmental degradadion. Anthropologists have an obligation to join researchers in other disciplines in the effort to create sustainable methods of long-term utilization of this remarkable region.