Download - RAISG - Instituto Socioambiental

MRD1Roadsin AmazoniaROADSOver the last 50 years, roads have been recognized as one of the main factors encouragingnew forms of using and occupying Amazonia. Their presence supports the advance ofcolonization and changes in the ways in which land is used, which, in turn, acts as a catalyzing or determiningfactor in deforestation (Chomitz et al. 1996; Barreto et al., 2006; Pfaff et al., 2007; Southworthet al., 2011). The intensity with which areas are affected in each region depends on the socioeconomiccontext, the development policies in place, and the speed with which changes are occurring in thevegetative cover (Barreto et al., 2006; Duchelle et al., 2010; Almeyda et al., 2010).Trans-Amazonian Highway. Anapú, Pará, Brasil. © Paulo Santos, 2005ContextRoads (highways, roads or trails) can accelerate the use of Amazonia’s resources and the region’stransformation. Their presence is an incentive to expanding human settlements and intensifyingfarming activities, logging, mining and so on.The correlation between paved roads and deforestation is high. It is estimated that in 80%of cases in Brazilian Amazonia, deforestation is found up to a distance of 30 km from paved roads,although many fire-cleared areas can be found at greater distances (Barreto et al., 2006). Roads,whether paved or not, promote new forms of occupying the Amazonian territory.The development of the road infrastructure in all the Amazonian countries is justified by governmentsin various ways: (i) to facilitate transportation of imported goods from sea ports to the differentregions of the countries; (ii) to facilitate the transport and exportation of raw materials, minerals, oil andmanufactured goods from the different regions to the sea ports; and (iii) to strengthen the regionaleconomy through the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIR-SA). Nonetheless the road system does not necessarily or only meet these objectives.In the countries of Andean Amazonia, the road system was constructed following a north-southaxis in order to generate connections, the main cities. Over the last ten years, though, the road systemhas been constructed, expanded and improved from east to west in order to interconnect the populatedcenters of Brazilian Amazonia with the Andean region and these centers, in turn, with the coastalcities where the main sea ports onto the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are located.It should be emphasized that across a vast extent of Amazonia, river navigation representsthe only form of covering large distances, as well as gain access to communities, cultivated areasand other production zones. Along the Amazon Axis of the IIRSA, the aim was to connect the Pacificand Atlantic Ocean through a series of land and river routes across an area covering 5,657,679 km 2(Cosiplan, 2011). Plans to connect the Atlantic to the Pacific acceleratethe pressures on Amazonian territories There are 96,500 km of roads throughout Amazonia as a whole.Most of these, 64.5%, are unpaved Perú and Bolivia are the two countries withhighways planned through the heart of the Amazonian forest The peripheral pattern of road distribution largely affects theheadwaters of the Upper and Middle Amazon basins PNAs and ITs have a road density 3 to 4 timeslower than the regional averageľMethodologyTo identify and describe the geographic features of the road distribution, georeferenced informationwas compiled on the main paved roads, unpaved roads and projected (or planned) roads existingin Amazonia. The roads in the process of being paved and those for which no information existswere classified as ‘unpaved.’ Due to the differences in the level of information available in each country,the analyses excluded secondary or tertiary roads (tracks), along with the service roads existing withinproduction areas.The road density per unit of analysis was calculated [(total extent of roads (km)/surface areaof unit of analysis (km 2 )*1.000] which will be indicated below as km/km 2 . The multiplication of the finalvalue by 1,000 was designed to facilitate use of the figures and lessen distortions caused by the differencesin the total length of roads according to the units of analysis used (region, country, macro-basinand sub-basin, protected areas and Indigenous Territories).Cartographic sources for the theme Roads: • BOLIVIA: FAN, 2009 • BRASIL: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE, Malha Municipal 1:1.000.000, 2005 • COLOMBIA: Fundación Puerto Rastrojo (Atlas de la Amazonía Colombiana), 2001; IGAC,2010 • ECUADOR: Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas, 2006 • PERÚ: Ministerio de Transporte y Comunicaciones - MTC, 2008 • SURINAME: Digital Chart of World, 1993 • VENEZUELA: Instituto Geográfico de Venezuela Simón Bolívar, 2003. Oceanand relieve: World Physical Map, U.S. National Park Service, in ArcGIS Online Services.¸RAISG 16Amazonia under Pressure – RoadsRoadsInter-Oceanic Highway on the Brasil-Perú Amazonian border. © Odair Leal, 2006Ä Due to the construction of roads toexplore oil, Ecuador has the highestdensity of roads in the whole ofAmazonia, 37.5 Km/Km 2 .¾ Local communities object to the constructionof the IIRSA highway linking Pucallpa toCruzeiro do Sul between Brasil andPerú.¸ Construction of the highway that will cut throughTIPNIS in Bolivia, under contract to the Braziliancompany OAS, was paralyzed in 2010 dueto social movements demanding prior consultation.– Amazonia under Pressure 17 RAISG