# Colonial Law and Deforestation: When Laws Destroy Nature

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/green-frequency-environmental-science-earth-radio-7796532/colonial-law-and-deforestation-when-laws-destroy-nature
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/green-frequency-environmental-science-earth-radio-7796532/colonial-law-and-deforestation-when-laws-destroy-nature.md
Podcast: [Green Frequency | Environmental Science & Earth Radio](https://stenobird.com/podcast/green-frequency-environmental-science-earth-radio-7796532)
Published: 2026-05-20T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/green-frequency/episodes/when-laws-destroy-nature
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6991eca8483d38b26e6ccf2d/e/6a0c47f54a60841f4c2cc31b/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/green-frequency-environmental-science-earth-radio-7796532/episodes/colonial-law-and-deforestation-when-laws-destroy-nature
Duration seconds: 1661

## Resource

Colonial law helped build modern deforestation. Legal historian Dr. Mariana Dias Paes traces how nineteenth-century property law created mechanisms for land dispossession and environmental destruction in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. Her research connects that history to the Amazon and Congo rainforests, where colonial legal systems continue to shape land disputes, court decisions, Indigenous rights, and conservation. Rather than treating environmental law only as a solution, the episode examines how law helped create the conditions for rainforest loss and why those structures persisted after independence. This is an environmental history of private property, colonialism, and the legal architecture still influencing environmental policy, environmental justice, and forest conservation today. Episode Guests: Dr. Mariana Dias Paes Browse Dr. Dias Paes’ publications on Google Scholar WATCH THE FULL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE Explore the Pine Forest Media digital ecosystem on our website Find the full-length video on YouTube @PineForestPods Follow us on Social Media @pineforestmedia Audio Editing by Clark Marchese, Video Editing by Madelyn Cho Weir Videography and Set Design by Le Studio Du Passage Cover Art by Laurel Wong Theme music by Nela Ruiz Find some more Pine Forest Media podcasts below Listen to Oceanography on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Listen to Plastic Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Listen to South Pole on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Listen to Something in the Water on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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