Developmentalism and neo-conservationism in the Vargas Era, 1930-1945: the scientific and political work of Paulo Campos Porto

Abstract The botanist Paulo Campos Porto’s participation in the state apparatus during the Vargas Era is discussed, focusing on the guidelines he established for the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro during his first years running the institution and also during his leadership of the Bahia state Department of Agriculture. The aim is to contribute to the comprehension of aspects of the work of scientists and technical specialists during the Vargas administration. Furthermore, by gaining an understanding of the botanist’s involvement with this administration and how the institutions he ran collaborated with its political project, the idea is to enable the perception of certain nuances in developmentalism at the time, such as a convergence with the precepts of conservationism.