Forests have a unique and often contradictory situation in the international sphere. A crosscutting theme, inherent to the main current environmental and social discussions, there is no clearly cut and defined law for forestry. The situation of the theme at Rio+20 was also contradictory, since despite the fact that forestry issues were included in the matters under discussion, they were not part of the official agenda. However, the timing of changes experienced in Brazil contributed to the fact that the theme, in particular the Amazon rainforest, was thoroughly discussed at parallel events. Four issues dominated the debate: the construction of the Belo Monte dam, deforestation, conservation units and the forestry code, highlighting the central role of the Amazon not only in Brazil, but also in the international community. The aim of this article is to present an analysis of this unique quality of forests in the international environmental agenda and the role of the Amazon at the United Nations meeting.
Amazon; Forests; Public policies; International environmental policies