Abstract ID: 93

Agrarian Dynamic and CO2 Balance in the Amazon

In the discussion about the establishment of the supply of environmental assets, the role of secondary vegetations like &ldquocapoeiras&rdquo has received little attention. Thus, the effort allocated to understanding the processes that generate them, particularly those of economical nature are negligible. The &ldquocapoeiras&rdquo are a very important component of the rural landscape of the Amazonia and are essential for the CO2 balance. In 1995, when the last Agricultural Census took place, the "capoeiras" accounted for 4.5 million hectares in the Amazon and in 2005, we estimate that the &ldquocapoeiras&rdquo account for 7.5 million hectares. Based 1995 Agricultural Census data, former studies stated that 24% of &ldquocapoeiras&rdquo relates to the unsustainable forms of agriculture like shifting cultivation and the remaining 76% correspond to abandoned lands degraded by agricultural functions. This paper demonstrates the impropriety of that conclusion, indicating that about half of these lands are related to a more intensive and promising agricultural uses then their precedent ones. In addition, those uses constitute significant stage in a path initiated by the shifting cultivation led by the peasants of the area. In an including demonstration of that argument, using a dynamic model the work reconstitutes fifteen years of CO2 balance in the North Region showing the participation of all forms of &ldquocapoeira&rdquo as part of the agrarian production systems to which they belong. Such a dynamics is not trivial in the production of environmental goods and should be followed closely by the policy makers. Finally, it points out strategic lines of policy targeting better results - economically, socially end ecologically - in the future.

Session:  LCLUC and Human Dimensions - The role of secondary forests in the Amazon.

Presentation Type:  Oral