Doctoral Dissertation Research: Settlement Formation and Land Use and Land Cover Change: a case study in the Brazilian Amazon

博士论文研究：聚落形成与土地利用和土地覆盖变化：巴西亚马逊地区的案例研究

• 批准号: 0623301
• 负责人: Robert Walker
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-08-01 至 2008-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0623301&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Settlement; Formation

Land reform in Brazil has moved into the reaches of the Amazon, and concerns about poverty and the environment have merged in colonization areas throughout the basin. Research addressing the causes of Amazonian deforestation, to which the proposed project seeks to contribute, has implicated many factors, ranging from the role of markets in the south of Brazil to the size of individual farming households. Much remains to be learned, however, about the impact of agrarian reform on this massive process of environmental degradation. The proposed research seeks to comprehend land cover and land use change in Amazonia by direct reference to the underlying social and institutional circumstances that have contributed to a source of deforestation in the Amazon basin that has grown in significance in recent years, and shows no signs of abating. Specifically, poor farmers, who have grown disillusioned with the Brazilian government's promise of land redistribution, have taken it upon themselves to form settlements, or assentamentos. The proposed research addresses a particular type of settlement presently affecting the most vulnerable parts of the Amazon forest, which is found on terra devoluta. The goal of the proposed research is to comprehend the social processes leading to spontaneously-formed assentamentos, and also to assess associated impacts on Amazonian deforestation. This entails two specific objectives, namely to (1) undertake a case study of a newly formed assentamento where we have already identified a number of key informants, and to (2) conduct a remote sensing analysis of deforestation occurring in this assentamento and others like it, found in the region. Thus, this project seeks to ascertain the effects of spontaneous settlement on deforestation in the Amazon basin. The academic merit of the project research is that it (1) will reveal the underlying causes of spontaneous settlement formation, and it (2) will measure the extent to which such settlements function as a proximate cause of deforestation. In other words, the research will contribute to the literature on land reform in Brazil at the same time it sheds light on Amazonian deforestation. In addition, this research will have a broader and significant pratical impact for the policy community concerned with loss of the Amazon forest, land reform, and with the provision of a life of dignity for the rural poor.

巴西的土地改革已经进入亚马逊河流域，对贫困和环境的担忧在整个流域的殖民区融合在一起。关于亚马逊森林砍伐原因的研究涉及许多因素，从巴西南部市场的作用到单个农户的规模，拟议的项目试图对此作出贡献。然而，关于土地改革对这一大规模环境退化过程的影响，仍有许多需要了解。拟议的研究试图通过直接参考导致亚马逊盆地森林砍伐的一个根源的社会和体制环境，来了解亚马逊地区土地覆盖和土地利用的变化。近年来，亚马逊盆地的森林砍伐现象日益严重，而且没有减少的迹象。具体地说，贫穷的农民对巴西政府承诺的土地再分配不再抱有幻想，他们自己承担起建立定居点或协议的责任。这项拟议的研究涉及目前影响亚马逊森林最脆弱部分的一种特殊类型的定居点，这种定居点在Terra devolta上发现。拟议研究的目标是了解导致自发形成的一致意见的社会过程，并评估对亚马逊森林砍伐的相关影响。这需要两个具体目标，即：(1)对我们已经确定了一些关键信息来源的新成立的森林保护区进行个案研究；(2)对该区域发现的该森林保护区和其他类似保护区发生的毁林情况进行遥感分析。因此，该项目试图确定自发定居对亚马逊盆地森林砍伐的影响。该项目研究的学术价值在于：(1)它将揭示自发聚落形成的根本原因，(2)它将衡量此类聚落作为砍伐森林的直接原因的程度。换句话说，这项研究将有助于巴西土地改革的文献，同时也有助于揭示亚马逊地区的森林砍伐。此外，这项研究将对关注亚马逊森林丧失、土地改革和为农村穷人提供有尊严的生活的政策界产生更广泛和重大的实际影响。