Exploitation of the natural

resources in the main Brazilian

biomes.
Bilal Paladini. University of Seville.

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

Brazil
20 times the size of Spain

http://www.ibge.gov.br/hom
e/presidencia/noticias/imag
es/169_230_463146.gif

http://revistagloborural.globo.co
m/GloboRural/0,6993,EEC16945
03-2869,00.html

Amazon

http://ruvr.ru/files/Image/Editiors/E
spanol/LaAmazoniaPeruana.jpg

The less plundered

biome because of its
size and impregnability:
gold, wood and rubber.

Cerrado (different tree

cover depending on soil and
human uses)

www.radames.manosso.nom.br/ambiental/images/stories/cer

Eucalyptus

http://www.grupofeltre.com.br/fotos/Eucalipto06.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/wpcontent/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 dont 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.

Workers exploitation

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

Erosion processes:
Voorocas (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 vooroca brasilea 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

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

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 agrobusiness.

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

 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?

(ojal) I hope so.

Thank you for your
contribution.