Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Agricultural expansion
Logging
Population pressure
Source
: After Kummer (1991).
Figure 28.8
Factors affecting
deforestation in the Philippines.
Source: Kummer (1991).
into forested areas with or without government permission. Equally, pressure to raise
money for government can permit and encourage commercial exploitation for timber or
for subsequent agricultural development, as in ranching schemes in parts of Brazil. Some
agreements are with multinational corporations that provide money for investment in the
hope of greater returns.
DEFORESTATION IN BRAZIL
human impact
Brazil provides a good example of the way in which government policy has a major
impact on forest clearance. Much of Brazil's population is concentrated on the east coast.
It has been rising faster than employment opportunities and many landless peasants
flocked to the cities, where sprawling suburbs and favellas or shanty towns were
constructed. Drought frequently affected the agricultural north-east, causing further
problems. The aim of the government became that of exploiting the vast area of forest in
Amazonia as well as reducing pressure on the eastern cities. It was believed to be an
empty land, rich in mineral, agricultural and water resources.
New roads were constructed to provide access to the forest lands of Rondonia and
Pará (Figure 1). Government subsidies were provided to encourage cattle ranching and
resettlement of peasants displaced by changes in agricultural systems in the south-east of
the country. Satellite monitoring of forest burning during the drier season indicated losses
of nearly 80,000 km
2
of primary forest in Brazilian Amazonia in 1988. The rate of
clearance does appear to have declined since then for a variety of reasons, and by 1997
estimates of deforestation indicated a rate of 13 027 km
2
It has been realized that the
