Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the LC maps. In all cases, the general patterns were the same and differences in LC class areas
were small. Relevant ideas provided by local farmers were that the map provided a common ground
to engage participants in a discussion on environmental awareness and appreciation and that the
maps became an instrument of empowerment to local communities. For example, farmers were
shocked at the significant changes in LC over time for the whole area (1994 to 1999). This stimulated
a debate on the incentives for forest conversion vs. the constraints imposed by the agricultural
systems adopted by farmers.
Areas with perennial crops increased dramatically over the years of the study, with coffee
becoming the single most important cash crop. Consequently, farmers tended to decrease the amount
of land planted with annual subsistence crops such as rice, maize, beans, and cassava. As a result,
food security became an issue for some communities. Although new areas would typically come
into production within 2 years, the incentives were to expand areas of pasture. An important
economic incentive was the dramatic drop in coffee prices worldwide. In the 2001-2002 season,
sale prices of coffee in Machadinho D'Oeste were only half of the market value 2 years earlier.
Many small farms were not entirely harvested and many farmers reported that they were very
inclined to change areas with old coffee trees into pasture. However, the decline in coffee prices
motivated enlightened discussions on the economic and environmental dangers of converting most
of the land into pasture.
The importance of common forest reserves in the region and the potential and constraints of
fostering forest conservation were discussed extensively. There was great appreciation for the fact
that the map clearly indicated that the major water resources were within the forest reserves that
had not been cleared. Identification of secondary forest along major water streams within the settled
areas stimulated a debate on stream bank erosion and nutrient loss into rivers. The general agreement
was that farmers went too far in clearing the land and needed to focus efforts on reforesting the
areas around the rivers. Farmers voiced the reasons, incentives, and constraints they face in trying
to deliberately reforest areas along the water streams. In most of the reported cases of forest
recovery, natural regrowth was happening, rather than seeded reforestation. The reported lack of
available water in areas in which farmers had irrigated their coffee was a surprise to the researchers.
Two outcomes contributed greatly to farmer empowerment. First, our map offered a synoptic
perspective of development patterns that farmers had not entirely realized previously. Farmers felt
that having a deeper knowledge of what was happening in their area would enable them to better
respond to local needs and contribute to statewide discussions on promoting environmental sus-
tainability. Second, farmers voiced the collective opinion that their participation in the mapping
project contributed to better organizing themselves into interest groups. The explicit acknowledg-
ment in the LC map legends of the local associations' contributions was a source of pride within
the broader community.
6.4 CONCLUSIONS
Visual inspection and comparison of LC maps with other data sources enabled us to conclude
that our efforts provided good estimation of LC change in the study area. The study area changed
over the 13-year study period from a typical new colonization area in its early stage, where higher
proportions of forests and areas in transition dominate, to one in which these cover types are
diminished in area in comparison to the proportional increase in crops and pasture. Statistically
based evaluations (error matrices) demonstrated acceptable levels of accuracy with classification
errors that were easily explainable and understandable. Participation and input from local farmers
was very useful in producing cover maps and proved to be an extremely effective means for
collecting classifier training and validation data in areas where other sources were not available.
Follow-up meetings with farmers were very constructive for addressing conservation issues with
regional and global implications.
