Brazil's Atlantic Forest, or Mata Atlantica, is characterized by environmentalists as one of the "hottest of the hotspots" for global biodiversity. Less than 7% of this important ecosystem remains today. The Mata Atlantica is also a place where the "local" interests of small-scale farmers, Brazilian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and even governmental agencies must increasingly confront "global" perspectives on environmental protection that are held by transnational environmental organizations and institutions such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). What happens when these diverse interests converge? Do small-scale farmers and environmentalists naturally ally with each other around conservation of the Mata Atlantica or is conflict inherent? Do the broader social movements of agrarian reform and environmentalism converge or conflict around the limited remaining Mata Atlantica? Given that land management decisions often proceed with the misguided assumption that "conservation" and "development" are similarly conceived of and practiced by very different groups of people, my dissertation research will examine how the diverse populations that live and work in the Mata Atlantica view development and conservation. I will particularly examine how identity and ideology affect the sovereignty and practices of small farmers, environmentalists, and the NGOs and social movements connected to these people.