Dr Danilo Urzedo

Dr Danilo Urzedo is an environmental geographer and a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge working on the Smart Forests project. Originally hailing from Brazil, Danilo draws his research on multiple perspectives of political ecology and environmental justice to investigate the interplay between tropical forest conservation and rural development. He is particularly concerned with understanding how emerging digital practices are transforming community participation to stop deforestation and upscale forest restoration actions in tropical regions.

Danilo obtained his bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering at the Federal University of São Carlos before completing a master’s degree in Tropical Forest Conservation at the University of São Paulo, with research undertaken at North Carolina State University. Following several years working as a community forester with Indigenous peoples and smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon, he moved to Australia to undertake a PhD in Human Geography at the University of Sydney investigating the multi-scalar governance of landscape restoration in the Amazon. Upon completion in 2020, Danilo was awarded a Research Associate position in the ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration at Curtin University, Western Australia, examining Indigenous-led seed supply systems for land restoration during the mine closure process.

Danilo’s experience working with Indigenous and rural communities to co-design grassroots actions for tropical forest management has led to significant local engagement and livelihood improvements. He had a substantial contribution in establishing one of the largest community restoration networks in the world - The Xingu Seed Network. This network is recognised globally for engaging hundreds of seed collectors, particularly women and youth, to supply tonnes of diverse native seeds for landscape restoration throughout the Amazon agricultural frontier.

Research Interests

Forest landscape restoration; Tropical deforestation; Environmental governance; Environmental justice; Rural livelihoods; Community networks.

Research Projects

Smart Forests Project

Key Publications - Books

Urzedo, D. I., Silva, R. R. P., Sa, D., & Harari, I. (2017). O que será de nossas sementes? pesquisa intercultural sobre as mudanças climáticas no Xingu-Araguaia (‘What will happen to our seed? Intercultural climate change research in the Xingu-Araguaia region’). São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental.

Silva, R. R. P., Urzedo, D. I., & Bensusan, N. (2017). Florestação: biodiversidade em jogo (‘Forestaction: Biodiversity in game’). São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental.

Costa, J. N. M. N., Piña-Rodrigues, F. C. M., Urzedo, D. I., Andrade, S. D. O., & Junqueira, R. G. P. (2014). Coletar, manejar e armazenar as experiências da Rede de Sementes do Xingu (Seed collection, processing and storage: Xingu Seed Network’s experiences"). São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental.

Key Publications - Book Chapters

Piña-Rodrigues, F. C. M., Euler, A. M. C., Freire, J. M., Junior Lima, M. de J. V., Mendes, A. M. da S., Sandim, A. S. de A., Franco, D. O., & Urzedo, D. I. (2021). Native forest seeds as an income generator within the forest landscape restoration chain. In S. Pinto, F. C. Santos, & C. Prescott (Eds.), Forest Landscape Restoration and Social Opportunities in the Tropical World (pp. 189–212). Recife: CEPAN.

Sampaio, A. ., Schmidt, I. B., Urzedo, D. I., & Cortes, C. A. (2021). Cerrado de Pé Association: community engagement promoting ecological restoration and local livelihoods in the Neotropical savanna. In S. Pinto, F. C. Santos, & C. Prescott (Eds.), Forest Landscape Restoration and Social Opportunities in the Tropical World (pp. 217–233). Recife: CEPAN.

de Urzedo, D. I., Fisher, R., Sá, D., & Junqueira, R. (2020). Indigenous Participation in the Native Seed Market: Adapting Ethnic Institutions for Ecological Restoration in the Southeastern Amazon. In L. F. W., K. V., & B. de L. I. (Eds.), Indigenous Amazonia, Regional Development and Territorial Dynamics. The Latin American Studies Book Series (pp. 287–309). Springer.

Piña-Rodrigues, F. C. M., Urzedo, D., Correa, A., & Figliolia, M. (2018). O futuro das sementes nativas. In C. J. Barbedo & N. A. dos Santos Junior (Eds.), Sementes do Brasil - Produção e Tecnologia para Espécies da Flora Brasileira (pp. 177–207). São Paulo, SP: Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo.

Urzedo, D. I., Sa, D., Junqueira, R. G. P., & Souza, B. D. F. (2017). Sementes de resistência e frutos de transformação. In A. Villas-Bôas;, N. R. Guerrero, R. G. P. Junqueira, & A. Postigo (Eds.), Xingu: histórias dos produtos da floresta (pp. 155–172). São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental.

Urzedo, D. I., Silva, R. R. P., Junqueira, R. G. P., & Campos-Filho, E. M. (2015). Arranjos socioprodutivos na restauração florestal: o caso da semeadura direta e da Rede de Sementes do Xingu. In A. P. M. da Silva, H. R. Marques, & R. H. R. Sambuichi (Eds.), Mudanças no código florestal brasileiro: desafios para a implementação da nova lei (pp. 309–365). Rio de Janeiro: Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada.

Key Publications - Journal Articles

Urzedo, D., & Chatterjee, P. (2021). The Colonial Reproduction of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: Violence Against Indigenous Peoples for Land Development. Journal of Genocide Research, 1–23.

Urzedo, D.I., Neilson, J., Fisher, R., & Junqueira, R. G. P. (2020). A global production network for ecosystem services: The emergent governance of landscape restoration in the Brazilian Amazon. Global Environmental Change, 61.

Urzedo, D., Piña-Rodrigues, F., Feltran-Barbieri, R., Junqueira, R., & Fisher, R. (2020). Seed Networks for Upscaling Forest Landscape Restoration: Is It Possible to Expand Native Plant Sources in Brazil? Forests, 11(3), 259.

Schmidt, I. B., de Urzedo, D. I., Piña-Rodrigues, F. C. M., Vieira, D. L. M., de Rezende, G. M., Sampaio, A. B., & Junqueira, R. G. P. (2019). Community-based native seed production for restoration in Brazil – the role of science and policy. Plant Biology, 21(3), 389–397.

de Urzedo, Danilo I., Fisher, R., Piña-Rodrigues, F. C. M., Freire, J. M., & Junqueira, R. G. P. (2019). How policies constrain native seed supply for restoration in Brazil. Restoration Ecology, 27(4), 768–774.

de Urzedo, D. I., Vidal, E., Sills, E. O., Piña-Rodrigues, F. C. M., & Junqueira, R. G. P. (2016). Tropical forest seeds in the household economy: effects of market participation among three sociocultural groups in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon. Environmental Conservation, 43(1), 13–23.

Carmo, J. B., de Urzedo, D. I., Ferreira Filho, P. J., Pereira, E. A., & Pitombo, L. M. (2014). Co2 emission from soil after reforestation and application of sewage sludge. Bragantia, 73(3).

de Urzedo, D.I., Franco, M. P., Pitombo, L. M., & do Carmo, J. B. (2013). Effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in tropical forestry. Forest Ecology and Management, 310.