GEO Brasil - UNEP

In the Pantanal Complex, native vegetation still covers more
than 97% of the area, partially modified by clearance and
agronomic agreements, improving native pasture
conditions. Use and occupation of this land is almost
exclusively for breeding, re-breeding and cattle fattening.
There is also fishing, the capture (not always legal) of wild
animals, tourist and leisure activities, and mining. Mining
activities are exclusively present in Corumbá and Poconé.
Production systems of different areas of the Pantanal have
important relationships with the neighbouring areas. In
contrast, the use and occupation of soil in the surrounding
areas have had a negative effect on the Pantanal ecosystem.
(MMA - Ministry of Environment, 1995.)
difference of city increase and expansion rate of
covering water and sewerage infrastructure system;
financial program implementation difficulties with
positive effects on environment;
substantial increase of public charges, making difficult
equipment maintenance in low income areas, specially
in city peripheries;
absence of political policy for the reuse of the temporary
labour force caused by investment reduction of large
projects;
environmental management
As cattle breeding has adapted to the environment, the
uncontrolled increase of cattle and its constant handling
have caused flood periods. These alter – altering with
extremely rigid dry periods, causing an intense deforestation
in the riverbeds that nourish Pantanal rivers. On the other
hand, fishing and predatory hunting have brought about
species imbalance. Examples include the accentuated
reduction of jacarés (Brazilian species of alligators), and the
consequent increase of piranhas and the fall of viscosity in
lakes and rivers. This causes weakening of the sustainable
economic base of big fishing colonies. In the remaining
areas of the Pantanal, soybean monoculture exportation
has expanded, as has sugarcane used for the production of
biological combustibles. This has caused indirect negative
socio-economic effects, characteristic to this type of
agriculture exploitation.
1.3 Short and Moderate Term Tendencies
Recent periods showed a considerable transformation in
the territorial dynamic of social formation in Brazil. Short
and long term tendencies for the whole territory refer to:
maintaining of population growing rates;
maintaining of space concentration levels;
maintenance of disparity in income between urban and
rural areas, in spite of relative elevation of income level
in some rural areas and economic growth in the
suburban area;
absence of political policies for the complementary redistribution
of inflation control.
Historically, the expansion of cattle breeding in Brazil was
responsible for large changes in coverage and use of soil
(Figure 3 – Maps on Soil Use). Pioneers thoroughly
described in scientific Brazilian literature were the main
agents in increasing deforested areas for agricultural and
pasture use in Brazil. Based on the advance of small
agriculture farmers seeking naturally fertilised forest soil,
pioneers played the main role in the process of
industrialisation. Industrialisation guaranteed the offer of
wage goods, specially food, necessary to maintain low rates
of the real wages of urban workers. Today, however, a major
part of products that are part of the Brazilian basic food
requirements originate from agro-industrial companies.
This is occurring at the same time that the land acquisition
process has brought the closing of the limits of access to
resources.
On one side, the total area of agriculture and cattle breeding
establishments decreased, the area that suffered changes
in original soil cover continued to grow. This occurred at a
much lower speed from the one observed in the past (Chart
1). This movement caused inversion of the historical
tendency of the increase of establishments and occupied
areas. This was true except for the area from the Amazon
Belt and the one integrating the Amazon and the Cerrado
biomes.
Two processes help to explain the influence this turnover in
spatial agricultural dynamics. The first one is related to the
expansion of urban, periurban and rururban areas, directed
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