Human Adaptation to the Changing Economy and Ecology on the Estuarine Floodplain of the Amazon Estuary

抄録

Land use patterns in Amazonia are undergoing major changes as a result of both internal and external factors. The region is experiencing rapid demographic growth. Concurrently, social, economic, and political events beyond the region are restructuring local patterns. Instead of an expected intensification in land uses, the trend is toward an extensive form of land management. The present study focuses on the processes and patterns of agricultural disintensification by examining on the past and current farming practices in the estuarine floodplain near Belem, Para state, Brazil. Prior to the mid-1970s, sugar cane, cultivated on the tidal lowlands under the short fallow-swidden system, served as the main cash-earning product. Following the swift demise of sugar cane farming as a result of several factors, e. g., improvements in transportation and communications, agricultural subsidies, modernization of labor legislation, and rapid urban growth, the fruit of the acai (Euterpe oleracea) palm became the dominant crop. The palm, cultivated in agroforests or managed in the fallows, is far less demanding on labor, while economically more rewarding than sugar cane. Cared as a permanent crop, land use is less intensive and ecologically more sound than sugar cane cultivation. This example from Amazonia contributes to the ongoing discussions on land use dynamics, and it also serves to indicate that there are no unilinear directions in land use changes.