GEO Brasil - UNEP

the state of the environmet in Brazil
Crossing data related to the total forest area (Table 1) with data related to the
1996 population estimated in the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
(IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) 2001 Census makes it
possible to visualise the estimates of forest cover per person, in terms of region
Table 2 - T otal B razilian P opulation (Inhabitants) 1970-2000
Year 1970 1980 1991 2000
Total 94,508,583 121,150,573 146,917,459 169,590,693
Urban (%) 55.9 67.6 75.6 81.2
Rural (%) 44.1 32.4 24.4 18.8
Source: IBGE - Demographic Census - 1970, 1980, 1991, 2000
On the one hand, there is the North Region, which presents the highest relation,
of 317 ha of forests per inhabitant, followed by the Midwest Region, with 9 ha per
inhabitant On the other hand, there are the most densely populated regions
(Table 2), with a scarce forest area per inhabitant: 035 ha per inhabitant in the
South Region, and 030 ha per inhabitant in the Southeast Region The Northeast
Region is in between, with a little over 16 ha of forest per inhabitant The population
data used for comparison were those of 1996 because they reflect a time relation
more closely aligned with the remaining forest cover per region reported in 1995
If the population data used for comparison had been that of the 2000 Census,
forest cover areas per inhabitant would be a little smaller, since the population
grew during that period while the forest area was reduced
Table 2 shows the evolution of the demographic density during the 1970-2000
period, per region In 2000, the smaller regions - Southeast and South - had the
highest population density: 782 and 307 inhabitants/km 2 , respectively The North
Region, which occupies the largest portion of the Brazilian territory, presented
the lowest population density: 33 inhabitant/km 2 In spite of this low population
density, the Amazon has been presenting the highest rates of gross deforestation
in the past few years in relation to the other regions in the country
The forest has been historically seen as an obstacle for the establishment and
development of human populations, creating a philosophical conflict for man
The Amazon is, beyond comparison, the region in which this dependence and
this conflict have manifested themselves more explicitly
Deforestation in Brazil began in the 16th Century in the Brazilian coast and was
associated with sugar cane plantations and sugar-mill operations It then moved
inward, towards the country’s inland, with the mining cycle initiated at the end of
the state of forests
the 17th Century It provided timber
for the mines and it opened space for
cattle-ranching, closely linked to this
cycle
Once the Brazilian coast was occupied,
deforestation moved southeastward,
with the introduction of coffee
plantations This type of culture
occupied lands mainly in the State of
Rio de Janeiro, in the Paraíba River
Valley and the São Paulo Plateau,
advancing, finally, towards the fertile
lands of the northern State of Paraná
After that, it expanded towards the
South Region, linked to the
exploitation of the rich Araucarian
forests And, finally, during the second
half of the 20th Century, deforestation
reached the Amazon with the
occupation frontier expanding
towards the North Region,
encouraged by the construction of
long roads and great public and private
colonisation projects
In the South and Southeast Regions,
the deforestation process is relatively
stable, although there is still pressure
to convert the remaining tropical forest
areas located in the Atlantic slope In
the Northeast Region, pressure for the
conversion of new areas comes from
the demand for timber to be used as a
source of energy It should be noted,
however, that the Caatinga forest
formation has a great regeneration
capacity
During the decades of 1970-80, tax
incentives granted for agricultural and
cattle-ranching activities originated an
extensive deforestation process in the
Amazon Region, a process which
continued even when the incentives
ceased to be granted
The Amazon historiography mentions
the use of wood in the region, specially
for the construction of civil and
military buildings and boats, but until
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