Deforestation in the Brazilian State of Rodonia

1984 satellite image of Rodonia

 2016 satellite image of Rodonia 

The purpose of this research project is to map the deforestation of the Brazilian State of Rodonia caused by the history of land development in the region. The expansion of deforestation in Rodonia is mapped by using the time slider feature provided in Google Earth. By dividing the expansion of the deforestation into 10 year periods, the map easily shows how much the landscape of Rodonia has changed over the last 40 years. The history of land development and its impacts are explained primarily through the research of Dr. Marcos A. Pedlowski (1997) and Dr. Brent H. Millikan (1992), who have written extensively on this issue. This project will use their research to explain the monumental forest loss shown in the map.

Rodonia is located in the western portion of the Brazilian Amazon and contains an area of 243,044 square kilometers. In 1970, the Brazilian federal government established the National Integration Program (PIN) to protect the vast interior of the nation by relocating Brazilian citizens there. The goal of the PIN was to settle 100,000 families between 1971 and 1974. However, by 1978 only 8% of the families had been settled. This is attributed to the federal governments's failure to provide titles, lack of secure loans, and poor road maintenance.  Just as Brazil was abandoning its colonization schemes, Rodonia was undergoing a demographic boom (Millikan, 1992). The construction of the BR-364 highway started an explosive process of migration and land occupation. During the 1970s, according to the census, Rodonia's population increased from roughly 111,000 to nearly 500,000 inhabitants, an annual growth rate of 15.8% comapred with 2.5% for the entire country (Millikan, 1992). The 1990 census showed the population had increased to over 1.1 million people in Rodonia. The increased number of immigrants lured by colonization settlements combined with the construction of new roads had a strong effect on the rate of deforestation (Pedlowski, 1997).  Most migrants came without capital to provide for more sustainable agricultural practices, so they resorted to shifting cultivation methods. By 1980, more than 8000 km^2 of forest had been cleared and by 1987 it increased to 41,000 km^2.

To understand how the deforestation became so tremendous it is necessary to look at the land-use change and its impacts. In Rodonia, the main actors of land-use are small farmers, cattle ranchers, miners and loggers. In the past, the clearing of land was considered proof of land occupation by farmers, and triggered the widespread deforestation in the 1970s (Pedlowski, 1997). Typical farmers will clear small patches of natural forest to establish a mix of annual and perennial crops and pasture (Pedlowski and Dale, 1992). These patches are irregular in terms of shape, size, and spatial distribution. In addition, most farmers slash existing secondary growth to increase the area in production without having to clear more natural forest. Furthermore, farmers prefer to establish pasture in older areas and clear natural forest to establish annual and perennial crops (Pedlowski, 1997). The small farms are spatially disaggregated, thus there is a great deal of of fragmentation of the forested landscape. Because most of the farm clearings occur along roads that run in linear patterns, the deforestation has a "fishbone" pattern when viewed from above.

Cattle ranchers have less complex strategies of land clearing and use because their main interest is to plant pasture to feed their herd (Pedlowski, 1997). the pattern of cattle ranching is started by the small farmers who clear a few hectares to establish their crops. However, most farmers are forced to move when economic returns drop below critical margin. In turn, these properties are bought by a more capitalized cattle rancher. These cattle ranchers have a bigger impact on deforestation because they tend to control more areas of land to provide for their cattle. Given the low productivity of the grasses imported into the region, most ranchers tend to clear large areas of land to feed the herd continuously throughout the year (Pedlowski, 1997). Most cattle ranchers see efforts to protect the forests as a barrier to their economic viability. In addition, the inability of state agencies to enforce environmental laws is because top state officials are influenced politically by cattle ranchers. Because of this, cattle ranchers do not obey the 50% rule of the Brazilian Forestry Code, which states that farmers cannot clear more than 50% of the land they own (Pedlowski,1997). LANDSAT images show that between 80 and 95% of cleared areas of medium and large properties are occupied by pasture. The impact of cattle ranchers can be seen more clearly in ares where large properties dominate. Rolim de Moura, an area of cattle ranching, and Vale do Paraiso in central Rodonia, had only 13% and 27% of natural forests left in 1993 (Pedlowski, 1997). The number of cattle increased 263% from 1980 to 1992 with the number of cattle rising from 250,000 to over 2.7 million. The continued growth in the number of cows will certainly led to the further clearing of forests to be used as pastures. Effects of cattle ranching is more severe than small farming because of the large areas of land required to maintain pastures. Cattle ranching is the main cause of deforestation in Rodonia.

After reviewing literature, it is clear that the massive amounts of deforestation in Rodonia can be attributed to the increase in population since the 1970s, as well as small farmers and cattle ranchers. The population spike was caused by government plans to colonize the region which were very unorganized and led to migrants clearing their own land as means to establish it as their own. Small farmers also cleared natural forests to plant annual and perennial crops, as well as slashed secondary growth which led to the predominance of poor soils and a decline in crop yields. These poor farming practices were a result of farmers having no money to establish more sustainable methods. Cattle ranchers then bought these lands to develop into pasture for their cows. These large farmers are more prone to keep clearing forests as their herd needs more room to feed year round. The continued deforestation in the Amazon, especially Rodonia has led to extreme impacts of habitat loss, biodiversity loss, and climate change.







References:

FEARNSIDE, P. M. (2005), Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, and Consequences. Conservation Biology, 19: 680-688. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00697.x

J, Imbernon. “Population Growth and Deforestation - the Case of Rondonia in the Brazilian Amazon.” Catalog › Details for: Population Growth and Deforestation - the Case of Rondonia in the Brazilian Amazon, outputs.worldagroforestry.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=37651. 

Millikan, Brent H. “Tropical Deforestation, Land Degradation, and Society: Lessons from Rondonia, Brazil.” Latin American Perspectives, vol. 19, no. 1, 1992, pp. 45–72. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2633551.

Pedlowski, M.A., Dale, V.H., 1992. Land-Use Practices in Ouro Preto do Oeste, RondGnia, Brazil. ORNL/TM 12062, Oak Ridge, TN. 

Marcos A. Pedlowski, Virginia H. Dale, Eraldo A.T. Matricardi, Eliomar Pereira da Silva Filho, Patterns and impacts of deforestation in Rondônia, Brazil, Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 38, Issues 3–4, 1997, Pages 149-157, ISSN 0169-2046, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169 2046(97)000303(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204697000303)

 “World of Change: Amazon Deforestation.” NASA, NASA, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/deforestation.php.

Syncretism

This map serves to provide a better look at the religious syncretism prevalent in Tlaxcala, a smaller Mexican state. The red place markers represent all cities with names stemming from Catholic roots, such as San, Santo, and Santiago. The yellow markers show other cities without Christian names. As you can see, there is a very even spread of yellow and red across the state which shows how pervasive the syncretism is. Religious syncretism is the mixing of different belief systems, usually following rapid expansion or colonization. Latin America became one of the worlds most syncretic regions as Europeans endeavored to promote the association between the Indian and Catholic gods to the natives. The blending of the two belief systems continued with native religious festivals being held on the same day as Catholic celebrations. Christ came to be called by the same titles as the aztec god Huitzilopochtli. The Spaniards also constructed churches on top of ancient pyramids, like you see at the Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies, as well as temples and other holy native places. The Spanish, unknowingly, created conditions under which the natives could continue to worship their same gods and holy places while appearing to celebrate Catholic deities.

US military intervention

This map shows the number of times the US military has invaded or occupied nations in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the dates that correspond. The invasions can be understood from a space, time and category interpretation. There are 4 countries who have been invaded once, 3 countries invaded twice, 2 countries invaded 3 times, and 1 invaded 4.

The Mexican American War lasted from 1846 to 1848 directly after the Texan War for Independence. With America shortly winning the war it increased its territory by adding land from Texas to California. In 1914 and 1917 there were two other incidents involving Mexico and the US military but they did not lead to any more territory being added. The next country with a very important history is Cuba. The Spanish American war (1898-1902) served to remove Spain from their Caribbean colonies. With the US removing Spain from Cuba,  the island was dominated by an American military presence and allowed for american interests to take control. The next conflict occurred as a result of an election that the US thought would harm their interests. The US intervened and put in place a government that was very pro- american. The third incident was in 1961 and was a result of Castro forming a communist state and allying Cuba with the Soviet Union. American intervention failed to overthrow Castro and lost all of its business interests on the Island. Another island affected by the Spanish american war was puerto rico. After removing Spain from the island Puerto Rico stayed under American control until it became a territory of the US.

Haiti has been the nation with the most encounters with the US military. From 1915- 1934 marines occupied the country to increase stability. The 1994-1996 and 2004 interventions were focused on removing corrupt governments. In 2010 the military was sent again to provide aid after the disastrous earthquake. The Dominican Republic was invaded in 1916-1924 and in 1965 to protect american business interests in the country and provide stability to the government. Grenada was invaded from 1983-1985 at the end of the cold war. The purpose was to remove the communist government and replace it with a pro american one. The same is true for El Salvador, in 1981 the US military was called in to shut down a leftist movement in the country because of the growing fear of communism.

Honduras and Nicaragua were both exploited by US corporations to grow bananas in the early 1900s. When revolutions occurred in the countries the US was quick to send troops to protect the valuable economic interests. This is wear the term "banana republic" originates from. Panama was occupied from 1908 to 1918 largely to build the canal across the country for economic shipping reasons. The Panama government was a puppet for the US giving it control of the Canal. In 1989 the US invaded again to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega who no longer supported the US.

HDI

This map shows the respective HDI for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The HDI measures three things: life expectancy, educational attainment, and adjusted real income. The HDI is used to determine how conditions are improving over time in a given country. As a whole, Latin American and Caribbean countries are in the middle to moderately low social and economic development. The map is broken down into 4 colors representing an HDI range. The red is the lowest category with a range of .498-.702. Next is the yellow with .708-.752. Green follows a range of .759-.784. Blue is the highest with .789- .843.

The red consists of 8 countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guyana, Bolivia, Paraguay, and the worst of the region, Haiti. The yellow encompasses Belize, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Suriname. Green is comprised of Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, and French Guiana. The highest hdi's of the region are held by Costa Rica, Panama, The Bahamas, Barbados, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.

The Southern Cone has high life expectancy, high standard of living and low fertility rates along with significant participation in the global market and an emerging economy. Because of this it is clear why they have the highest HDI in the region. One can expect to see Venezuela decline in ranking given all of the problems the country is experiencing right now. The HDI is a great way to measure how the people are living, without getting stuck on only the industrial side of things. As a whole, the region has been improving within the last two decades and looks like it will continue to climb. The low point of the region is Haiti. Being a country that has been ravaged by natural disasters and can develop no industry, it has become heavily reliant on foreign aid and most of its population is uneducated and unemployed.

Precolonial Cities

This map shows the comparisons of present day Mexico City and Cusco to what they were like in precolonial times. In Mexico City, it can be seen that the precolonial and present day hearts of the city are in the same spot. In fact you can see the ruins of the temple of Tenochtitlan inside of the Zocalo. Cortes' map also reinforces this and shows that Tenochtitlan already had the same style of city planning that the Spanish brought with them. One major difference however is that Tenochtitlan was built on a lake that is now drained. In Cusco, the city was built to resemble a puma which was a sacred animal to the Inca. Today the puma outline can still be seen. Each region of the city is very symbolic to the design of the puma. The fortress is positioned at the jaws of the puma and they both represent protection from enemies. The Plaza de Armas of Cusco is positioned in the same location as the heart of the puma would be located. The tail of the puma is the is the two rivers emerging from the top and bottom of the puma.  Architecture from precolonial Cusco can also still be viewed today too. It is especially recognizable with the granite blocks put together without the use of mortar on the Sacsayhuaman.

Colonial Cities

This map shows several colonial cities such as Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, and Santo Domingo. The layout in the core of the cities still reflects how they were set up by the Spanish during colonization. According to the Spanish city planning ordinances of 1573, the cities were set up with the heart of the city as a central rectangle or square called the plaza mayor. This became almost like a park, with benches, kiosks, and pathways through it. Facing the plaza were the most important buildings such as the palacio municipal and Catholic cathedral. The remaining perimeter would be composed of two or three-story buildings housing restaurants, cafes and offices. The elite would live in the upper stories surrounding the plaza mayor. From there, the streets were laid out in a grid pattern extending from the heart of the city. This same layout can still be observed today among all of these cities. In the heart of all the cities the church is highlighted in red, the government building in yellow, and commercial buildings in green. The ordinances also call for the plaza to be in the middle of the city if it is an inland city, but if it is a port city, the plaza is to be built by the water. The plazas of Mexico City and Lima are huge in comparison to the others because of the their colonial wealth. You can still see the horse track design in the plaza in Buenos Aires. 

Landscapes and Hazards

The Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010. For the next 12 days at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. At least 3 million people were affected by the quake and the death toll ranges up to 160,000 people. Many notable landmarks were damaged during the quake. The Presidential Palace was crumbled, along with the main prison, where over 4000 prisoners escaped. The quake occurred in the northern boundary where the Caribbean tectonic plate moves eastward in relation to the North American plate. With Haiti being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the quake devastated the island and massive relief efforts were needed just to provide for the basic needs of the victims. Haiti is still recovering from this detrimental earthquake 9 years later.

Physical Landscapes Transect

This is the route someone would take traveling from Brasilia to Lima. Along the way, the traveler will encounter a variety of different landscapes, climates, elevation, and vegetation. Going west you will first encounter the Mato Grasso Plateau which made up of mostly savannah grasslands. Next, the elevation raises and the climate becomes more arid in the Altiplano, which is scattered with salt mines and lakes. Further west, the climate becomes more subtropical and humid that allow for tropical landscapes and dense foliage. Next you will encounter the Andes, where elevation rises drastically and the air becomes drier. The mountains dominate the region which create ups and downs making traveling the region very hard. On the other side of the Andes, temperatures become more humid which allows for more farming of crops. Lastly, the Peruvian coastline has a dry desert like climate. 

Sub regions and history

This map depicts the route Hernan Cortes took from Veracruz to the Aztec city Tenochtitlan. Also included in the map is the line formed by the Treaty of Tordesillas which split the "New World"
between Portugal and Spain. Cortes and his men journeyed across large plateaus and mountain ranges in order to reach the city. Once there, Cortes killed Moctezuma and exploited the city states wealth, as well as using the people as slaves. This excursion was the start of colonization in this area that was detrimental to the indigenous populations of Mexico. From this point the Spanish colonization of Latin America dominated and Spanish replaced indigenous languages across the region. 

Formal sub regions of Latin America and the Caribbean

This map shows the different sub regions of Latin America and the Caribbean. As you can tell it is almost impossible to create very distinct and clear boundaries that include all countries with the same color pin mark. My subregions are based off of the languages of Latin American and Caribbean countries. Spanish speaking countries, for the most part, are to the left of the yellow line on the map, but every country with a yellow pin mark speaks Spanish and is included in that sub region. Brazil is the only country in the Portuguese region and it is surrounded by the red border. The English speaking countries are mainly in the Caribbean and most of them are inside of the green line. However, all English speaking countries are marked with a blue pin. The last region is the French speaking countries, but since there are so few it is hard to plot out their region, however they are marked with a purple pin.

My name is John Roy, I'm a sophomore from Louisiana. I have always been interested in geography since a young age which is why I decided to minor in it. Costa Rica was the first Latin American country I visited and I was shocked by the natural beauty of the region immediately. By taking this class I hope to increase my knowledge about the regions culture, landscape, politics, and religion. I'm eager to learn all of the new information this class will provide to me. I have taken two semesters of Spanish and have two more to complete. Latin American culture is very fascinating to me and I'm excited explore it at such an in depth level in this class. 

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica