Through a free adaptation of the methodology Fernand Braudel used for the study of the Mediterranean Sea region, the author analyses the three major overlapping dimensions that have shaped the Amazon, each displaying its own temporal pattern. One is the long-term ecological dimension, which in the case of the Amazon forest has great biospheric relevance. Another is the medium-term historical dimension, which encompasses a series of human settlement patterns that have brought the establishment of relatively stable social-life structures within the universe of the forest. Lastly, there is the short-term political and economic dimension, expressed in the chaotic events of recent decades aimed above all at short-term economic gain and immediate survival.
Amazon; forest; environmental history; sustainability