The Future of Amazonia Destruction or Sustainable Development?

About this book

The future of Brazilian Amazonia, the world's largest remaining tropical rainforest, hangs in the balance. Two decades of destructive development have provoked violent struggles for control over the region's resources, with disastrous social and environmental consequences. This multi-disciplinary collection reviews past experience but focusses on the latest phase of Amazonian settlement. Chapters by leading authorities examine such issues as colonisation in the most recent frontier areas, multinational mining projects, hydro-electric schemes, and the military occupation of Brazil's borders. After demonstrating how new government and business activities have exacerbated social tensions and ecological destruction, The Future of Amazonia considers alternative, more sustainable strategies.

Contents

- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Contributors
- Introduction; D.Goodman & A.Hall

PART 1: CURRENT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND FRONTIER INTEGRATION
- Rondonia and the Fate of Small Producers; G.Martine
- The Shanty Town, Final Stage of Rural Development? The Case of Acre; K.Bakx
- Private and Public Colonisation Schemes in Amazonia; E.Moran
- Future Hydroelectric Development in Brazilian Amazonia: Towards Comprehensive Population Resettlement; L.Mougeot
- Development Planning and Mineral Mega
- Projects: Some Global Considerations; F.Neto
- Frontier Security and the New Indigenism: Nature and Origins of the Calha Norte Project; J.Pacheco de Oliveira Filho

PART 2: ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION, SOCIAL CONFLICT AND POPULAR RESISTANCE
- Environmental Destruction in the Brazilian Amazon; P.Fearnside
- The State and Land Conflicts in Amazonia, 1964
- 1988; A.Wagner Berno de Almeida
- The Political Impasses of Rural Social Movements in Amazonia; J.de Souza Martins
- Indigenous People in Brazilian Amazonia and the Expansion of the Economic Frontier; D.Treece
- Small Farmer Protest in the Greater Carajas Programme; J.Hebette & J.A.Colares

PART 3: TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- The Nature and Sustainability of Brazilian Amazon Soils; P.Furley
- Environmentally Appropriate, Sustainable Small
- Farm Strategies for Amazonia; C.Barrow
- Economic Values and the Environment of Amazonia; D.Pearce & N.Myers
- Glossary
- Index

Customer Reviews