CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE 1. Why is the Brazilian Rainforest Being Destroyed? 2. What are the Underlying Causes of Deforestation? 3. The Highways 1. Why is the Brazilian Rainforest Being Destroyed
In the last decade as much as 9-12% of the original forest cover of the Amazon has been destroyed.
The main causes of the deforestation are:
1. Small-scale agriculture
2. Commercial logging
3. Mining
4. Infrastructure
5. most importantly, Cattle Ranching
This image was provided by Dan Petr
Government sponsored tax credits and subsidies encouraged farmers and corporations to settle out in Amazonia. Since the land of this region is poor and unfertile, agriculture was a difficult task for farmers, so resorting to cattle ranching was a normal action.
Intense clearing by the government has also contributed to the massive deforestation in Amazonia along the three major highways: the Belem-Brasilia highway, the Cuiaba-Porto Velho highway, and the Transamazonian highway.
"In the last decade many thousands of indigenous peoples have been forced off their lands as more and more of the forest is taken over for cattle ranching, the expansion of cash crops, mining and logging" (RAN).
"This development that is destroying the forests and threatening indigenous cultures is often made possible through government subsidies for colonization of uninhabited forest land given to big companies and in some areas to landless workers that were evicted from other regions of Brazil" (RAN).
One of the major sources of deforestation and forest degradation in the Brazilian Amazon today is mahogany logging. Mahogany is a major export from Amazonia.
This image provided by Rainforest Action Network
Basically this is how it breaks down:
Because there is a lot of poverty and landlessness in Brazil, the government, in order to ameliorate the situation, colonized the Amazon. They offered great fiscal incentives to do so, to the people.
The government did mass construction and built roads, villages, buildings, etc. This was done by clearcutting or slash and burn. Lots of trees were cut down to do these projects.
When the people colonized, they also cut down or burned down lots of the forest because they are farmers. BUT the problem is that the soil is not very fertile and therefore is not conducive to farming. Hence, the farmers will cultivate for a few years until they cannot produce anymore, and then clear more forest down and start farming again.
They leftover land is then either used for cattle grazing, or is just left there to regenerate.
Others that colonize that are not farmers, are cattle grazers. Now, they do basically the same thing: they clear the forest and stick their cattle all over it because grass is one of the few things that can be grown on this soil.
Unfortunately, the soil cannot handle cattle grazing either and will soon not produce grass for the cattle. The grazers will then have to make a new pasture for their cattle.
Commercial logging is also an issue here. Many times the land that the farmers and the grazers clear, goes to timber companies. But other than that, timber companies will also clear the forest for capital. Many times they will choose one or two species, cut those all down, and then burn the rest for a farmer or grazer.
Land is cleared for mining, too. The situation is the same here.
This image provided by Rainforest Action Network
2. What are the Underlying Causes of Deforestation?
"The uneven distribution of wealth and land is one major factor in the destruction of tropical forests. The World Bank estimates that of the 2.5 billion people now living in the tropics one billion exist in absolute poverty" (RAN).
There are three main reasons for the government to encourage Amazonia settlement:
1. To ensure national sovereignty by settling the frontier in order to eliminate the chances of invasion by bordering countries.
2. The growing disparity between the rich and elite and the poor and landless was growing.
3. Rapid population growth in the coastal cities of Brazil.
In order for the government to relieve the country of these three major problems, settling the Amazon Region was the only answer.
Government incentives have pushed poor and landless families to Amazonia for their settlement and have encouraged economic activity in the region.
They promised housing land, nutrient rich agricultural land, and infrastructure, along with fiscal incentives and subsidized credit lines.
This image provided by http://www.esd.ornl.gov/iab/iab3-10.htm
Massive road-building programs in the 60s and 70s made large areas of the region accessible by land for the first time and government sponsored schemes attracted migrants from Brazil's northeastern and southern regions.
3. The Highways
Belem-Brasilia Highway
The first of this infrastructure was the construction of the Belem-Brasilia Highway in 1964. This highway, in Brazil's heartland, linked together two major cities: Belem and Brasilia.
Large numbers of migrants in search of land and employment took advantage of the cheap land and generous tax and credit incentives offered by the government. This surge of migration caused widespread deforestation.
One of the main causes of deforestation here was the conversion of forestland to cattle pastures.
Cuiaba-Porto Velho Highway
The second massive infrastructure plan was the construction of the Cuiaba-Porto Velho Highway in 1968. After the completion of this highway, huge waves of migration flowed to Rondonia of migrants, land grabbers, and adventurers.
The reasons for the intense migration to Rondonia are as follows:
1. The Cuiaba-Porto Velho Highway traversed over fertile soils, causing farmers and sharecroppers to migrate.
2. 100-hectare lots and basic services and infrastructure could be obtained at a nominal price.
3. A drastic reduction in employment opportunities in the South and Southeast pushed out the poor people.
The primary causes of deforestation here were: again the building of infrastructure and the increase of migration after the reconstruction of the infrastructure, the rapidly growing population, and the cattle ranches.
Transamazonian Highway
The Transamazon was one of the governments biggest projects where they expected the migration of 70,000 families!
This was another plan by the government to alleviate population and social pressures and to promote settlement in Amazonia. Another goal was to find valuable mineral deposits. Most importantly this project would "solve" the governments fear of foreign invasion.
The government took extensive measures to recruit colonists to this region by using mass propaganda. Promises of temporary household subsidies, crop financing, and twenty year loans were made.
To the government's surprise, only 8,000 families had settled by 1980. Also, no valuable minerals had been discovered.
This image provided and copyrighted by Raintree Nutrition, Inc.
All rights reserved. http://www.rain-tree.com
The reasons for the failure of this program are:
1. Inadequate research on the land's topography and soil fertility was done, therefore the cleared land ended up being a poor region for agriculture.
2. The crops that were chosen to be cultivated were unsustainable in the tropical rainforest soil.
3. Settlers found problems with the region. Major markets were located at far distances from the villages. Fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides were all too expensive for the farmers to purchase.
This all led to more deforestation. But, since the project was unsuccessful, in the end it was beneficial to the environment.
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