Tropical deforestation small farmers and land clearing in the ecuadorian Amazon
The opening chapter describes the changing geography of deforestation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A theory is proposed in chapter 2 to explain the increases in deforestation in the 20th century. It is argued that large blocks of tropical forest are cleared through the combined actions of lead institutions, growth coalitions and free riding peasants in affecting extraction of natural resources, funds for infrastructure, demographic pressures, rising agricultural prices and proletarianization. The theory is illustrated with a case study of deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon between 1920 and 1990. Chapter 3 describes the context with particular reference to government policies and rain forest ecology. Chapter 4 outlines the way in which peasants, missionaries and government officials overcame opposition from a well-organized indigenous group and deforested a large area of SE Ecuador. The struggle of one group of peasants to find and clear land in the northern part of this region is described in chapter 5. Chapter 6 examines the land clearing practices after settlement of communities inhabited by Shuar Indians and mestizo colonists. Availability of credit and conversion to cash crops are also described. Recent attempts by the second generations of these communities to carve new farms from the forest are described in chapter 7. The final chapter summarizes the theory, assesses its utility for explaining deforestation in other places, and discusses its implications for designing policies to slow deforestation. The research methods are described in an appendix. There is a subject index.
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
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New York, New York Columbia University Press
1993
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| Subjects: | Bosques tropicales, Deforestación, |
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