Citation: Freitas, J.d.S.; Homma, A.K.O.; Ferreira, J.F.d.C.; Farias Filho, M.C.; Mathis, A.; Silva, D.C.C.; Padilha, L.M. Limits and Possibilities of Vegetable Extraction in Extractive Reserves in the Amazon. Sustainability 2023, 15, 3836. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su15043836 Academic Editor: Emanuele Radicetti Received: 9 December 2022 Revised: 13 January 2023 Accepted: 13 February 2023 Published: 20 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Limits and Possibilities of Vegetable Extraction in Extractive Reserves in the Amazon Josimar da Silva Freitas 1, * , Alfredo Kingo Oyama Homma 2,3 , José Francisco de Carvalho Ferreira 4 , Milton Cordeiro Farias Filho 1 , Armin Mathis 5 , David Costa Correia Silva 6 and Luiz Mário Padilha 7 1 Campus ARGO, University Center of the State of Pará, Belém 66613-903, Brazil 2 Embrapa Eastern Amazon, Belém 66095-903, Brazil 3 Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences, Pará State University, Belém 66095-903, Brazil 4 Master’s Program in Regional Development, Federal University of Amapá, Macapá 68903-419, Brazil 5 Postgraduate Program in Sustainable Development of the Humid Tropic, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil 6 Campus Paragominas, Federal Rural University of the Amazon, Paragominas 68627-450, Brazil 7 Master’s Program in Teaching Humanities and Languages, Federal University of Acre, Cruzeiro do Sul 69920-900, Brazil * Correspondence: josimarfreitas55@gmail.com Abstract: Vegetable extraction has been considered a new paradigm of adequate development for the Amazon Region by ecological movements, international organizations, and foreign governments. This study evaluates whether the supply of extractive products transformed into economic value can ensure the livelihood of families and prevent deforestation. The study was conducted at the extractive reserves Alto Juruá, Rio Ouro Preto, and Rio Cajari during two periods: January to March 2017 and January to March 2019. A total of 384 interviews were conducted—234 in 2017 and 150 in 2019. The field results show that low returns, low land productivity, and lack of labor point to the economic infeasibility of vegetable extraction in the extractive reserves of Alto Juruá, Rio Ouro, and Rio Cajari. As a priority, extractivism should be considered a cultural institution and an economic model that can promote sustainability. A strategy capable of valuing products derived from extractivism should be developed, and an approximation of the markets that remediates the efforts of forest conservationists should be considered. Keywords: production limit; extractive economy; productive activities; deforestation; extractive reserves; Amazon 1. Introduction From the pre-Columbian era to Portuguese colonization in the territory that would later become Brazil, the extraction of useful parts of plants was the first activity practiced by humans to meet survival needs [1]. Extractivism has become one of the most prominent issues in the discourse and movement of forest protection in Latin American and world politics in the last decade [2]. Extractivism, as a human activity, is characterized by numerous interconnections and is part of a set of actions carried out in the context of socioeconomic, agronomic, and environmental productive activities [3]. It is a complex of practices, mentalities, power differentials, and the rationalization of socioecological modes of organization [4]. Extractivism is a model or paradigm of development in which the economies of the Global South are structured to depend predominantly on the exploitation of nature and satisfy the consumption of the Global North [2,5]. Extractive activities include any form of resource extraction, cultural appropriation, emotional extraction, human exploitation, and a technocapitalist world system [6–10]. Sustainability 2023, 15, 3836. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043836 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability