The traditional communities of the Amazon floodplain occupy a large variety of seasonal environments and have adapted to the variations determined by the flood pulse, which is reflected in the development of their resource managment strategies. In this work the territoriality of these communities was evaluated by observing the cost-benefit relationship for fisheries, forests and agricultural exploration to social and environmental conflicts originating from the explotation of natural resources of common property in areas of open access. Interviews were conducted between August of 2003 and November of 2004, with the head of family in 50% of each community studied, on the coat of Canabouca, district of Manacapuru. The variables used to evaluate territoriality were: production, revenue and distance traveled. The areas of exploitation were analyzed using Global Information System (GIS). The results indicated that fishing activities generate conflicts and territoriality, which is the product of the interaction between distribution, avaliability and productivity of fishing areas and the political organization of the communities, that is reflected in the cost-benefit relationship.
Amazon; floodplain; human territoriality; open access areas
