Exploitation of the natural resources in the main Brazilian biomes.

Bilal Paladini. University of Seville.

Source:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1HRN6G_TOU8/SiMk0DigceI/AAAAAAAAAUM/fCbyeghpoXg/s1600-h/matla.jpg

20 times the size of Spain

http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/presidencia/noticias/images/

169_230_463146.gif

http://revistagloborural.globo.com/GloboRural/0,6993,EEC1694503-

2869,00.html

Brazil

http://ruvr.ru/files/Image/Editiors/Espanol/LaAmazoniaPeruana.jpg

The less plundered biome because of its size and

impregnability: gold, wood and rubber.

Amazon

www.radames.manosso.nom.br/ambiental/images/stories/cerrado.jpg

Cerrado (different tree cover depending on soil and human uses)

Eucalyptus

http://www.grupofeltre.com.br/fotos/Eucalipto-06.jpg

Soya

http://www.agrolink.com.br/upload/noticias/08.JPG soja en brasil

Cattle farming: also in catinga and amazon biomes

www.ibama.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dsc06813.jpg

Atlantic rain forest

The Atlantic rain forest has been eliminated since de Portuguese colonization mainly because of the intensive growing of sugar cane. Firstly in order to produce sugar and recently to elaborate “biofuels”. Nowadays, It only remains 0,6% of this biome (SUDEMA, 2004).

Agro-fuels or bio-fuels?• The economic activity that caused the biggest

deforestation was growing sugar cane in order to produce agro-fuels after the PROALCOOL polities at the middle of the 70s.

• Sugar cane area and the quantity of fuel increased over 400% between 1970 and 1985 .

• So we can not call BIO to something that only brings pollution, hunger and death to the majority of population.

Agro-fuels consequences• Economic: food prices more expensive because

of the creation of an external demand over that products.

• The increase of land used to produce sugar cane will duplicate in the next ten years (SUDEMA, 2004). This also contribute to deforestation because it´s forcing the cattle farmers to introduce in the Amazon borders and in the Cerrado.

Agro-fuels consequences (II).

• Where forests are cut down to grow agro-fuels, CO2 will be delivered to the atmosphere and biodiversity will be threaten .

• Some of the gases generated by the agro-fuels are more pollutant than CO2, For example, N2O.

• Agro-fuels don´t avoid to produce CO2 when other crops used to feed people are replaced by them because they will be burned to produce energy.

The extinction of not known plants that could have a medical use. For example, in 4 km2 Buraquinho reservoir there are 500 medical plants.

http://noticias.tukanal.tv/img/canicultores.jpg

Workers exploitation

Erosion processes:Voçorocas (gullies) are a lineal erosion morphology that appear over deforested banks. They are originated by the conjunction of different genetic mechanisms. They develop subsoil fluxes giving place to piping and suffusion processes) on a sandy-silt deposit, placed over a silt-clay layer that retains subsoil runoff.

Esquemas de voçoroca brasileña y su equivalente malgache. (Demangeot, 1999)

Gullies in Dona Antonia: land uses in 1970

Gullies in Dona Antonia Settlement: land uses in 1985

Gullies in dona Antonia Settlement land uses in 2002

Cartography of natural hazard risk

1. Create a map of land uses.2. Digitize the drainage network in

different typologies. 3. Intersect the slope map, the

headwaters and the not vegetated areas.

Risk of gully development

Risk of gully head retreat

Risk of rill development

Proposal of management

• Headwaters that present risk of gully development and vegetated riversides would become connectivity areas in order to connect the small areas of remaining Atlantic rain forest and avoid the development of gullies.

• Crops in flat areas could maintain that use.• Vegetated areas should be preserved.

Land uses of Dona Antonia Settlement.

Risk cartography of Dona Antonia Settlement.

Proposal of land management of Dona Antonia Settlement.

Peasant settlements: agrarian reform• More sustainable than the agro-business. • Not used farms are converted into peasant

settlements with a 20% of their surface protected by law.

• New crops guaranty the alimentary sovereignty will be produced to be sold in the local markets.

• These new land owners became aware of the erosion problems originated by growing on the banks.

Some remarks about Natural resources • All goods are provided by ecosystems.• The majority of them needs a period of time to

regenerate after having been taken.• Our economic system is based on the maximum profit

and the minimum cost. • It externalizes the environmental and worker costs• It needs increasing the production and consumption

constantly .• Our planet has physical limits.

A proposal: Ungrowing: The eight “R”• Reevaluate: rethink our values : cooperation vs.

competition, altruism vs. egoism, etc.• Re-Concept: modify our concepts about reality,

becoming aware about the social construction of poverty, scarcity etc.

• Restructure: adapt the new economic and productive structures to the new values.

• Re-localize: produce and consume locally instead of bringing products from far away.

• Redistribute: the access to natural resources and wealth.

• Reduce: put limits to consumption and respecting the cycle of regeneration of natural resources.

• Reuse: against the consumption, looking for long life products and his reparation and conservation.

• Recycle

More possible solutions :• More Regional planning:

• Establishing zoning with different legal land uses over all the countryside, not only in protected areas.

• Very well qualified public servants should elaborate the planning with the people participation in public and political affairs.

• Changes in the production model.

Democratic revolutions in Arab world, citizen demonstrations in

Spain and Greece... Is a deep transformation close?

(ojalá) I hope so.Thank you for your contribution.