LAND COVER EVOLUTION OF SMALL FARMS: THE TRANSAMAZON HIGHWAY
Robert T. Walker; Alfredo Kingo Oyama Homma; Frederick N. Scatena; Arnaldo José de Conto; Carlos David Rndriquez-Pedrazza; Célia Armando Palheta Ferreira; Pedro Mourão de Oliveira; Rui de Amorim Carvalho
Abstract
The dynamics of land use change in both the mid and long-run were determined for a sample of 132 small farmers located along the Transamazon Highway. On average, four deforestation events occurred after arrival on the property. The average area of deforested land was 10 hectares for each event, totaling 40 of the 50 hectares allowed by law for a typical size plot of 100 hectares. It was observed that small farmers along the Transamazon Highway employ diversified systems of land use including annual crops, perennials and cattle; these show a temporal sequence in accord with household domestic cycles. These results suggest that pasture conversion in Amazon by small farmers is due to domestic dynamics cycle in addition to others variables.
Keywords
Referências
Centro Agro-Ambiental do Tocantins (CAT). 1992. Elementos de análise do funcionamento dos estabelecimentos familiares da região de Marabá. Unpublished Manuscript. Marabá: CAT
Hecht, S.B. 1992. Valuing land uses in Amazonia: colonist agriculture, cattle, and petty extraction. In Conservation of neotropical forest. Edited by K.H. Redford and C. Padoch. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 379-399.
Hecht, S.B, Norgaard, R.B., and Possio, G. 1988. The economics of cattle ranching in Eastern Amazonia. Interciencia, 13 ( 5) :23 3- 240.
Homma, A.K.O., Walker, R.T, Scatena, F.N., Conto, A.J., Carvalho, R., Rocha, A.C.P.N., Ferreira, C.A.P., Santos, A.I.M. 1993. Dynamics of deforestation and burning in Amazonia: a microeconomic analysis. Overseas Development Institute, Rural Development Forestry Network, Network Paper 16c (Regent's College, Regent's Park, London)
Mattos, M. and Uhl, C. 1994. Economic and ecological perspectives on ranching in the Eastern Amazon. World Development, 22(2):145-158.
Ozório de Almeida, A.L. 1992. The colonization of the Amazon. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Rudel, T. 1993. Tropical deforestation: small farmers and land clearing in the Ecuadorian Amazon. New York: Columbia University Press.
Singh, I., Squire, L., and Strauss, J. 1986. The basic model: theory; empírica! results, and policy considerations. ln Agricultural household models. Edited by I. Singh, L. Squire, and J. Strauss. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 17-47.
Toniolo, A. and Uhl, C. 1994. Potential for the intensification of agriculture in the Eastern Amazon: a case study. Unpublished Manuscript. Belém: IMAZON.
Trindade de Almeida, O. and Uhl, C. 1994. Developing a quantitative framework for land-use planning in the Brazilian Amazon. Unpublished Manuscript. Belém: IMAZON.
Turner, B.L., Meyer, WB., and Skole, D.L. 1994. Global land-use/ land-cover change: towards an integrated study. Ambio 23 ( 1) : 91- 95
Walker, R. T. 1994. Farm-level decision-making and its impact on land use in the Brazilian Amazon. Seminar presentation to the Tropical Conservation and Development Program, Gainesville, University of Florida, October 31, 1994.
Watkins, J.F., Leinbach, T.R., and Falconer, K.F. 1993. Women, family, and work in Indonesian transmigration. The Journal of Developing Areas 27:377-398.
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mendeley
Email