INTELLIGENCE REPORT AMAZONIAN BRAZIL: ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE TO REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05C01506R000200400001-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 31
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 1, 1972
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIRECTORATE OF
,INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Report
Amazonian Brazil:
Environmental Challenge to Regional Development
CIA/BGI GR 72-10
June 1.972
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WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national
?
defense of the United States, within the meaning of Title
18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as amended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP I
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 1
The Environment 2
The Development Program 6
Scope and Goals 6
Program Implementation and Environmental Problems 13
Highways through the rain forest?much more than just clearing the
right-of-way 13
Agricultural Colonization?altering a fragile ecosystem 17
Cattle Ranching?transforming rain forest to planted pastures
Forestry?introduction of exotic trees and controlled exploitation of the
natural forest 20
Indian Pacification and Resettlement?for whose good? 21
Outlook 23
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
June 1972
AMAZONIAN BRAZIL: Environmental Challenge to Regional
Development
INTRODUCTION
1. As Brazil forges rapidly ahead in industrial development and ?turns also to the
settlement and development of her largely empty interior, a new awareness has grown
among her neighbors that Brazil is serious in her bid to become a world power.
Although the ambitions and resources attributed to her may be exaggerated?and the
apprehensions of her rivals as well?Brazil, nevertheless, is increasingly playing the role
of the dominant power in South America. As such, her intentions and her development
capabilities become of increasing intelligence interest.
? 2. Brazil is now engaged in a massive program to integrate Amazonia into the
national life of the country. Remote and, until recently, accessible only by water or air
transportation, Amazonia has functioned more as an -overseas colony- than as an
integral part of Brazil. This colonial status is reflected in Amazonia's economy, which
is,based on the "exportation" of raw materials and the -importation- of manufactured
goods and many of its foodstuffs from southeastern Brazil and foreign countries. The
sparse population, strung out along the rivers and along the few land transportation
lines, effectively occupies only a small part of the total land area, and the government
perceives Amazonia as one of the few remaining empty areas in the world having a
settlement potential for large numbers of people. It would like to see rapid settlement
of the region in order to enhance the country's overall economic growth; absorb much
of the excess population of the troubled, adjacent Northeastern Region; afford security
advantages in having its remote frontiers more accessible; and symbolize Brazil's
coming of age and achieving its manifest destiny.
3. Amazonia, like Texas, is a name that evokes superlatives?both positive and
negative. Much of Amazonia remains unexplored, and knowledge of many aspects of
its environment is minimal. A systematic resource survey, based on airborne radar
imagery, is underway and, hopefully, will provide much, of the information needed to
identify and indicate the magnitude of the resource base and to plan for its rational
development. In the meantime many misconceptions persist in the public mind
regarding this land with its great expanses of rain forest, its tremendous rivers, and its
equatorial climate. Publicity relating to the development program has focused
NOTE?This report was prepared by the Office of Basic and Geographic Intelligence and was
coordinated within CIA and with the Soil Conservation Service, USDA.
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national attention on the region and prompted some extravagant claims for the
development potential as well as exaggerated warnings of the ecological dangers
inherent in developing the region.
4. The extreme optimists envisage the future Amazonia as a vast tropical
breadbasket that will feed the hungry people of the world. The extreme pessimists
warn that cutting the rain forests will completely alter the ecological balance and bring
on desert-like conditions. The most likely prospect 'lies somewhere between these
extremes. At best, the program will develop selected areas of Amazonia to full
participation in the national economy and, by increased accessibility, may break the
near-feudal control exercised by a small group of landowners and entrepreneurs over
forest workers in the interior. At worst, it will transplant an uneconomic system of
subsistence agriculture from a poverty scene in the dry Northeast to a new poverty
scene in superhumid Amazonia and initiate a gradual degradation of the physical
environment in the affected areas.
THE ENVIRONMENT
5. In terms of human settlement and land use two distinct habitats occur in
Amazonia?the dry land (terra firme) and the land subject to periodic flooding
(varzea). The latter includes the broad flood plains that extend along the Amazon
River and the lower courses of its principal tributaries (see fold-out map at end of
report). It becomes essentially a water landscape at the height of the rainy season and
appears an unlikely site for population concentration; yet much of the present human
activity of the region focuses on this zone. The settlements and habitations are located
on the natural levees of the rivers, on stilts on lower ground, and on terra firme
adjacent to the flood plains. Economic activities have a seasonal rhythm, attuned to
the rise and fall of the rivers (Figure 1). During the low water period jute and various
food crops are grown on cleared areas of the flood plains (Figure 2), cattle are grazed
on natural grassland, and products are extracted from the forests. The rivers are the
principal arteries of movement and commerce (Figure .3), and the significant
commercial and administrative centers for the region are all river ports. Of these, only
.Belem can be described as a modern urban center. Manaus is rapidly urbanizing
(Figure 4), however, under the stimulus of a free zone in which duty-free trade and tax-
free industrial production ale authorized.
6. The sparsely populated terra firme comprises the bulk of AmaZoriia.1 This land,
which rises in successive steps to the north and south of the varzea, includes the
extensive Amazon Plain, massive steep-sided tablelands at the highest level, and
various flat to hilly plateaus at intermediate levels. A dense network of river valleys
cuts across all levels, fragmenting the land. The pronounced surface irregularities tend
to be hidden by the dense forest mantle that covers more than half the area and
constitutes the world's largest tropical timber reserve. The heterogeneity of the forest
11n this report the term Amazonia is applied broadly to the area encompassed by the Amazon
hydrographic basin. Within Brazil a small region is designated the Northern Region for statistical reporting
and consists of the states of Acre, Amazonas, and Para, and the territories of Amapa, 'Rondonia, and
Roraima. Another region, Legal Amazonia, was established for planning and development purposes and
includes the Northern Region plus parts of the 'states of Goias, -Maranhao, and Mato Grosso that extend
outside the Amazon Basin into the adjacent Northeastern and Central-West physiographic regions.
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FIGURE 1. At high water stage fodder for cattle is cut and brought
to corrals by boat.
FIGURE 3. River boats loaded with
forest products.
FIGURE 2. Jute harvesting in the
varzea.
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.ftmome
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1417
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FIGURE 4. New housing project at Manaus.
stands makes them difficult to log on an intensive commercial basis, but considerable
progress has been made during the last decade in introducing large-scale logging
operations for lumber and veneers. Much more widespread are the traditional seasonal
forest activities of extracting rubber and Brazil nuts, supplemented by slash-and-burn
subsistence agriculture.
7. Commercial agriculture is concentrated primarily in the area tributary to Belem,
where black pepper and malva (a hardy fiber plant) are grown for the national and
foreign markets, and food crops are raised for the local urban market. The natural
fertility of the terra firme soils is generally low, and the meager nutrient reserves are
quickly depleted under traditional methods of cultivation. Only high value crops,
such as black pepper, can absorb the high cost of artificial fertilizing and be mar-
keted profitably (Figure 5). Japanese colonists pioneered the successful cultivation
of pepper in the area and introduced intensive farming methods.
8. Planted pastures have proved better adapted to present capabilities and needs,
and cattle ranching is undergoing rapid expansion, particularly along the
Belem?Brasilia Highway. The impact of the highway on the area has been great,
triggering a spontaneous influx of settlers eager for farm land or to participate in the
services sector.
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FIGURE 5. Black pepper field on the terra firme.
FIGURE 6. Tin mining dredge in Rondonia.
9. The terra firme is rich in mineral resources. Manganese and cassiterite (tin ore) are
mined commercially in Amapa and Rondonia, respectively (Figure 6). Bauxite deposits
are being developed in northern Para and very extensive high-grade iron deposits in
southern Para. Large numbers of prospectors ascend the rivers seasonally to work
alluvial sands for gold and diamonds (Figure 7).
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FIGURE 7. Primitive sluicing operation for washing gold bearing alluvial sands.
10. The rapidly growing population of Amazonia exhibits a high proportion of
young people?more than half of the population is less than 18 years old. The general
level of literacy and technicalskills is low, and the incidence of infectious diseases and
dietary deficiencies is high: Thus, in addition to the, need for a basic economic
infrastructure, there is a critical need_ for educational and health facilities. The great
distances over which the population is spread and the gaps in knowledge of tropical
diseases add to the magnitude Of the problem.
THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Scope and Goals'
11. In June 1970 the government of Brazil announced a National Integration
Program (NIP) to finance infrastructure projects in Amazonia and the Northeast and
to promote the rapid integration of these regions with the national economy during the
years 1971-1974. Major goals are to facilitate colonization of the Amazon Basin and, at
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the same time, relieve population pressure in the drought-plagued Northeast?a
perennial problem area. Previous colonization projects have been low-priority
piecemeal efforts, and the government now proposes a high-priority integrated
program. The NIP capitalizes on the dramatic success of the Belem-Brasilia Highway
in stimulating settlement and trade in eastern Amazonia, but attempts to avoid the
chaotic situation resulting from spontaneous settlement along the route. It couples the
construction of major penetration roads with controlled colonization of the land along
the routes. Its stated goal is to implant a viable agriculture-based society in the
colonized areas.
12. The planned road network, a colossal 9,000 miles in extent, includes as key
elements the east-west Transamazonian High way and the north-south
Cuiaba-Santarem Highway (Figure 8). The former will extend from the Northeastern
seaports of Recife and Joao Pessoa westward across both the dry Northeastern interior
and the Amazon rain forest to the western frontier with Peru. The route incorporates
some existing highway segments within the Northeastern Region. The second trunk
highway links Santarem, a significant Amazon river port, with Cuiaba, the capital of
Mato Grosso state. Other roads will extend from these trunk highways to the borders of
neighboring countries along the periphery of the Amazon Basin. The highway network
is intended to open vast areas to settlement and trade, link them to established road
networks in the east and south, and supplement the Amazon network of natural
waterways. River port facilities will be improved at key connecting points, and a tug
and barge fleet developed. Construction of the Transamazonian Highway is being
handled by private firms under contract to the Ministry of Transportation, with the
stipulation that unemployed Northeastern laborers be hired for the road crews. The
Cuiaba-Santarem Highway is being constructed by construction battalions of the
Brazilian Army Engineers under Ministry of Transportation coordination?as were the
earlier Belem-Brasilia and Cuiaba-Porto Velho highways.
13. To expedite colonization of Amazonia the government authorized expropriation
of one large block of land, the Transamazonian Polygon, in central Para state, plus
strips of land 60 miles wide along either side of the planned federal highways. In the
absence of accurate land surveys, estimates of the total land area affected vary
considerably, but a rough approximation is one-fourth of Brazil's territory.
14. The National Colonization and Agrarian Reform Agency (INCRA), Ministry of
Agriculture, has been given the task of selecting, moving, and establishing 100,000
families (500,000 persons) on homestead plots along the highway axes within five years
(i.e., by June 1975). As sections of highway are completed INCRA begins parcelling
out homestead sites on the bordering strips of land?initially within six miles of the
road. The initial zone of settlement is between Maraba and Itaituba along the
Transamazonian Highway. The colonists are settled in farm villages, agrovilas, spaced
three to six miles apart (Figure 9). INCRA provides each family a small wooden house
(Figure 10) and provisional title to a 250-acre plot near the village. Five acres of land
are cleared for each farmer (Figure 11), and he is given seeds, tools, and technical
orientation, enabling him to plant a first subsistence crop. He is also paid a minimum
salary for five months. At the end of this period he is essentially on his own, although
he is guaranteed minimum crop prices for twO years. His provisional land title permits
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All VIDADES Roo,2vi
NA AZONI
?
FIGURE 8. President Medici and Transportation Minister Andreazza at the inauguration
of a segment of the Transamazonian Highway.
him to borrow up to $2,250 for clearing more land and buying tools and seeds. Indirect
support is provided the colonists in the form of schools, technical assistance, and
medical and dental care.
15. Each agrovila, consisting of about 50 family dwellings, is to have a few basic
services, such as an elementary school, church, dispensary or pharmacy, butcher shop,
general store, and grain warehouse. For each group of 20 agrovilas a larger center, an
agropolis, would provide additional services, such as a health clinic, saw mill, bank,
warehouses, and stores. A still larger center, the ruropolis, would serve clusters of three
or four agropoles. Each ruropolis would have such services as an agricultural coop-
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FIGURE 9. One of the first agrovilas constructed within the Transamazonian
Polygon.
erative, storage silos, an agricultural extension station, intermediate-level schools,
hospitals, banks, an airport, and light industry. The highway construction support
bases would serve as the nuclei for developing the ruropoles. The construction
companies are obligated to turn over these encampments with supporting infra-
structure to 1NCRA as the road sections are completed. The first ruropoles to be
established are Altamira, Maraba, Itaituba, and Santarem.
16. Some of the road sections and the adjacent lands earmarked for colonization are
in areas traditionally occupied by semi-nomadic tribes of forest Indians. From past
experience the government is aware that bloody encounters occasionally erupt when
whites penetrate tribal lands. To forestall such encounters the government has adopted
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I
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tbX:
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.4r4-v? 41'4 1,Av.4174 Wiqtri
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FIGURE 10.- Lumber from local forests is used in constructing the small houses
for colonists.
a plan of pacification and resettlement. The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is
establishing 15 Indian posts along the route of the Transamazonian Highway from
which pacification teams will be sent out to contact isolated tribes in advance of
construction work. The teams will attempt to prepare the Indians for contact with the
whites through a program .of medical, technical, and economic assistance. The overall
goal is the gradual acculturation and integration of the tribes into the national
community. In order to ease the transition several large forested areas have been set
aside as reservations for the voluntary resettlement of pacified tribes. Within the
framework of their own tribal institutions and customs they may practice traditional
activities in a familiar forest environment. FUNAI teams will introduce new concepts
and techniques by demonstration and example. Hopefully the reservations will serve as
showcases to attract additional tribes to resettle. Somewhat similar, but smaller scale,
efforts to resettle and acculturate Indian tribes have been undertaken by various
missionary groups (Figure 12).
17. Other projects officially included within the National Integration Program are
Project Radam and the Curua-Una Hydroelectric Project. The former is an aerial
survey of the region using side-looking radar that can penetrate the cloud cover that
blankets parts of the area throughout the year. Some 520,000 square miles will be
surveyed for purposes of analyzing the resource base and preparing base maps for use
in planning settlement areas, land use, areas favorable to mining, new roads, and other
elements of infrastructure. The Carua-Una hydroelectric powerplant, located near
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FIGURE 11. Five acres of the 250-acre homestead tracts are cleared immediately to
plant a subsistence crop.
Santarem, is scheduled for completion in 1973. With an initial installed capacity of
20,000 kilowatts, it will serve the area of the Transamazonian and Cuiaba-Santarem
highways.
18. The National Integration Program is funded by an allocation of 30 percent of
the money deposited under the -fiscal incentives- program. Established in 1966, this
program permits Brazilian firms to deposit up to 50 percent of their income tax each
year for investment in government-approved development projects in Legal Amazonia
and the Northeast. Investments may be made in industrial, livestock raising,
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FIGURE 12. Xavante Indians learning new agricultural tech-
niques at the Sao Marcos mission in Mato Grosso.
agricultural, or basic service projects. The main emphasis has been placed on the
development of industry, particularly within the Northeast. The Superintendency for
the Development of Amazonia (SUDAM) administers the program in Amazonia, and
the Superintendency for the Development of the Northeast (SUDENE) handles the
program in the Northeast. SUDAM has helped establish a variety of small industries in
Belem and Manaus; programmed intensive geological and mineralogical
investigations for mining development; fostered agricultural research; and, as of
December 1971, had approved a total of more than 250 cattle ranching projects. Most
of the large cattle ranches are located in southern Para and in northern Goias and
Mato Grosso on land accessible from the Belem-Brasilia and Cuiaba-Porto Velho
highways.
19. In July 1971 the government announced a new agricultural development
program, PROTERRA, to complement the NIP. Entitled -Program of Redistribution
of Land and Stimulation of Agriculture in the North and Northeast,- it is to be funded
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by an allocation of 20 percent of the "fiscal incentives program deposits for the period
1972 to 1976. This allocation, together with the 30 percent allocation for the NIP,
leaves SUDAM and SUDENE with freedom of choice in the use of only 50 percent of
the deposits originally authorized for investment projects. PROTERRA authorizes cash
payments for expropriation and distribution of land in the social interest. According to
the initial statement the resources can be used to buy lands, lend land-purchase funds
to small and medium farmers, finance agro-industry, subsidize agricultural
production, expand agricultural research, and improve the marketing infrastructure;
however, aspects of how the program is to be structured and implemented have yet to
be worked out.
Program Implementation and Environmental Problems
Highways through the rain forest?much more than just clearing the right-of-way
20. Highway construction is progressing nearly on schedule. Heavy equipment
becomes immobilized during the height of the rainy season, and, therefore, road crews
work around the clock during the dry season' in order to meet deadlines (Figure 13).
Engineering studies were not made prior to starting road construction. As forest
clearing progressed, the terrain was revealed to be more rugged than had been
anticipated (Figure 14). The additional cuts and fills required, plus the need for raised
roadbeds in the extensive areas with poor drainage (Figure 15), will probably lead to a
significant increase in construction costs over original estimates. Herculean efforts have
been required to meet logistical support requirements on a continuing basis. Heavy
equipment and construction supplies are brought to the main support bases by river
boat from Belem. Unfortunately, the best period for navigation coincides with the
rainy season when construction work is at a near standstill. Conversely, road
construction progresses most rapidly during the dry season, when the water level on the
rivers is low and navigation.is hampered by innumerable sand bars.
21. Another logistical problem is that of providing support for small advance teams
that range ahead of the main work fronts clearing the forest cover from the roadway.
This support is provided in large part by airdrops from light airplanes. Road crews
continually face the discomforts of myriads of stinging insects and conditions of high
daytime temperatures, high relative humidity, and sudden downpours. They also
suffer from frequent bouts of malaria and dysentery. Nevertheless, work schedules are
being maintained, and the Ministry of Transportation has amply demonstrated its
technical competence to construct highways through areas of rain forest.
22. Initially most of the roads will have a gravel surface, temporary wooden bridges
over the smaller streams, and ferries on the larger rivers. The Manaus-Porto Velho
Highway will be paved at the outset, and paving is in progress along the older
Belem-Brasilia Highway (Figure 16). If the intensity of traffic generated by the roads
is sufficient to warrant improvements in design standards, all or segments of the other
roads will be paved, and permanent bridge structures will be added. Meanwhile, the
task of maintaining such an extensive network of unpaved roads against the ravages of
the rainy seasons is likely to be formidable and costly.
'The dry season, a relative term, is the less rainy period extending from late May through September.
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FIGURE 13. Heavy construction equipment must be used to capacity during the less
rainy period when the heavy red clay soils are more manageable.
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FIGURE 14. A truck transports colonists, along a hilly section of the
Transamazonian Highway.
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FIGURE 15. Surface drainage has been a particularly difficult engineering problem
in constructing the Manaus-Porto Velho Highway.
23. The government has been sharply criticized for not making economic feasibility
studies of the roads before authorizing their construction. Critics point out that the east-
west Transamazonian Highway will link the impoverished Northeast to the
undeveloped interior of Amazonia, and will have little basis for generating traffic. It
will be in no way comparable to the north-south Belem?Brasilia Highway that linked
undeveloped Amazonia with the highly developed and industralized Southeastern
Region, thus generating trade, traffic, and settlement along the route. The government
takes the position that the individual roads of the planned network are not justified on
the basis of direct benefits to road users. Rather, justification is seen in terms of the
overall economic, social, and political benefits that will accrue to the country from
colonizing the area and achieving a more balanced regional growth. The
Transamazonian Highway, in particular, is intended to stimulate and support
settlement movement from the Northeast to Amazonia; to supplement the natural
waterway system of the Amazon Basin; and to provide an outlet for the products of the
region. In the latter function, it may serve less as an east-west trunk road than as a
feeder road for the north-south trunk roads and waterways.
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FIGURE 16. Truck traffic on the lengthy unpaved part of the Belem-Brasilia Highway
must cope with mud and washouts in the rainy season and dust in the dry season.
Agricultural Colonization?altering a fragile ecosystem
24. If the government's ability to construct highways has been demonstrated, its
ability to successfully carry out an ambitious colonization effort is yet to be proved. A
high degree of coordination between ministries will be required, and sufficient
economic and technological assistance must be provided the colonists to insure their
advancement beyond the stage of mere subsistence agriculture.
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25. The tropical rain forest appears as the expression of a rich environment, but it
flourishes on the basis of a fragile ecological balance?a continuous recycling of
nutrients.' When the forest is cut, the nutrient cycle is broken, and only a minimal
nutrient reserve remains in the soil. Under traditional slash-and-burn agricultural
practices, the felled trees are burned on the ground, releasing the plant nutrients in a
soluble form in the ash. Crops are then planted by hand among the charred logs,
utilizing the ash as fertilizer. Good yields are obtained the first year or two, fed by the
available ash and the small soil reserve of nutrients; but heavy rains leach away soluble
materials from the ash, and a net loss of nutrients occurs at each harvest.
26. On the varzea this nutrient loss is replenished by the annual deposition of silt.
On the terra firme, however, the fertility normally is not restored by natural means,
and chemical fertilizers are not commonly used. They are costly to apply, and the
artificial mineral salts are rapidly leached from the soil unless applied scientifically.
With neither natural nor artificial replenishment, the soil fertility and crop yields
continue to diminish until the subsistence farmer abandons the depleted land to
natural regrowth and then repeats the sequence on new land.
27. Two categories of terra firme soils are exceptional in having a renewal of mineral
nutrients in the subsoil due to active weathering of mineral-rich parent rock at shallow
depths. These soils?terra roxa and red-yellow podzolic soils?are confined to hilly
sections of the intermediate plateaus underlain by crystalline rock. They have not been
accurately mapped as yet, and their areal extent has not been established. A broad belt
of terra roxa has been identified in the Transamazonian Polygon, between Altamira
and Itaituba, and settlement priority has been given to this area. These soils have
a good potential for traditional (low-capitalization) agriculture.
28. Colonists are urged to plant short-cycle food crops (beans, corn, manioc, rice,
and bananas) as subsistence crops and longer cycle, deep-rooted crops or tree
crops (pepper, sugarcane, coffee, cacao, guarana, oil palm, cashews, and rubber)
as cash crops. The soils are generally unsuited to the methods of mechanized row-
crop cultivation common in temperate zones. These methods generally require
baring the ground and deep plowing, which wO' uld subject tropical soils to intense
leaching and erosion (Figure 17). The use of minimum tillage methods, however, may
make the future introduction of mechanized agriculture feasible in Amazonia on
selected land of flat to moderate relief.
29. Although INCRA attempts to select colonists with farm experience, personal
initiative, and a reputation for hard work, the adequacy of the technical guidance
provided the colonists may well spell the success or failure of the settlement program.
Whether from the Northeast or the South, the colonists are unused to the Amazonian
environment and must be taught how to cope with an excess of water, unknown plant
diseases and pests, different planting/harvesting schedules, and modem land
3 The vegetation assimilates nutrients from the soil; plant offal (dead leaves, twigs, fruit, branches) falls
to the ground; and bacteria rapidly decompose the organic matter releasing the mineral nutrients and
returning them to the soil: Only slight nutrient losses occur in the cycle, and they are covered by
nutrients contained in rain water and by nutrient reserves in the soil.
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FIGURE 17. Bare ground quickly erodes under the powerful onslaught of tropical
downpours.
management techniques adapted to the region. Traditional slash-and-burn agriculture
is ingrained in the rural Nordestino as part of his cultural heritage, and his ways may
be difficult to change unless agricultural extension assistance is provided over an
extended period. INCRA officials are conducting initial technical orientation, and
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agricultural extension facilities are planned for the larger centers. Critics have
questioned the capability of the Ministry of Agriculture to man and support a wide
network of extension service posts on a continuing basis.
Cattle Ranching?transforming rain forest to planted pastures
30. Cattle ranching is being promoted through SUDAM as a feasible alternative to
intensive cultivation in Amazonia. Pasture grasses do well on the red-yellow podzolic
soils and protect the soils from both erosion and laterization processes. Abundant
rainfall insures pasturage throughout the year and eliminates the need for confinement
feeding or supplemental feeding common to other regions. The pasture grasses are
shallow rooted and will gradually deplete the soils after the first three or four years, and
fertilizers will be needed. The SUDAM program does foster enlightened management
practices, such as pasture rotation and use of soil correctives. Critics warn, however,
that artificial fertilization of large pasture acreages may be uneconomic. They predict
that investors under the -fiscal incentives- program will be tempted to take their short-
term profits while the pasturage is good and then abandon the land when the fertility
declines. They point to the history of large-scale abandonment of old land for new in
Sao Paulo State as a case in point. If large acreages of land in Amazonia are cleared for
pasture and later abandoned to natural regeneration, a rain forest vegetation will not
be restored. Lacking a nearby natural source of seeds and wild life to disseminate
them, a biologically less productive type of vegetation will develop?most likely a
woodland savanna.
31. Such large-scale ranching ventures as the fazenda being developed by the King
Ranch-Swift-Armour consortium in Para are certainly conceived as long-term
operations. Heavy capital investments are being made to knock down forests, develop
pastures, bring in legumes, build an extensive infrastructure, and develop improved
breeding stock adapted to the ecological conditions. Planners for the consortium
consider that the location of the Amazon Basin close to North American and European
markets will give it a competitive advantage vis-a-vis producers in Australia,
Argentina, and even southern Brazil. The capability of controlling the spread of
disease and pests is an unknown factor in developing planted pastures in the tropics.
Disease vectors are numerous, and diseases have caused great damage to other
monocultures, such as rubber plantations, and, to a lesser extent, pepper plantings.
The very heterogeneity of the rain forests appears to act as a mechanism to hold disease
and pest organisms in check within the stands. No comparable natural check is present
in homogeneous stands.
Forestry?introduction of exotic trees and controlled exploitation of the natural
forest
.32. The potential problem of disease has not deterred an experimental undertaking
to develop the largest planted forest in the world on the extensive D. K. Ludwig
holdings in Para and Amapa states. Thousands of acres of rain forest have been
leveled and replanted with 17 million Gmelina arborea seedlings?a fast-growing
south Asian tree that is an excellent source of paper pulp. One hundred million new
trees are projected by 1980 in anticipation of a world shortage of cellulose for paper.
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? 33. Several large-scale lumbering operations are underway in the natural rain forest
despite the problems of wide dispersion of commercial timber species and the high
specific gravity of some species. Logs with high specific gravity are impossible to float
downriver by normal means and are difficult to mill. With encouragement from
SUDAM and UN/FAO, the lumbering operations are being expanded to include the
production of hardwood veneers and plywood.
34. Ecologists have become concerned at the unprecedented rate of cutting of
Amazonian forests in recent years for timber and to establish agricultural settlements
and cattle ranches. They fear that without adequate controls, widespread destruction
of the forests will lead to a general degradation of the environment (Figure 18). The
forest vegetation has a direct effect upon the water balance through the processes of
absorption and transpiration. Removal of the forest cover tends to decrease
atmospheric humidity and greatly increases the amount and regularity of surface
runoff. This, in turn, increases erosion, flooding, and silting. The tree canopy shades
the forest floor, and its removal increases the soil temperature and reduces the soil
moisture content proportionally. The forest also absorbs carbon dioxide from the air
and, through photosynthesis, gives off oxygen. The amount of oxygen generated by the
Amazon forest is sufficiently great to be significant in terms of the earth's total supply.
No measure is available of the environmental effects that would result from clearing
the forest from an area this large, but it would have a marked negative effect on the
agricultural potential of the area through its impact on the climate, water supply, and
soils.
35. The government is aware of the problem and, through SUDAM and UN/FAO,
has introduced training programs in milling and forest management technology. The
lumbering enterprises approved by SUDAM also employ selective cutting methods.
Legislation has been passed which prohibits the cutting of more than 50 percent of the
forest cover on land homesteaded under NIP or developed through the -fiscal
incentives- program. It specifically forbids cutting the forest cover along river courses
and on steep slopes. Furthermore, areas whose soils are unsuited to large-scale
agricultural colonization are likely to remain as forest reserves.
Indian Pacification and Resettlement?for who-' good?
36. Several forested areas have been set aside as Indian Reservations in which
resettled Indians may practice traditional activities of hunting, fishing, and subsistence
agriculture. The stated policy is to give the tribes permanent possession of the lands
and to protect their rights to the natural resources through FUNAI supervision. The
government plan to move tribes to the reservations from lands along the highway
routes precipitated a storm of protest from social scientists. Calling the government
policy inhuman, the critics stated that the Indians and their worldly and cultural
goods were being considered as useless or harmful obstacles in the way of the progress
and development of the country. The government policy was based on a need for
unencumbered land on which to resettle colonists from the Northeast; a need to
protect the Indians from the harmful side effects of too rapid engulfment by
civilization?disease, exploitation, and cultural shock; and a need to forestall any
violent confrontation between the Indians and the road crews and settlers. Each of the
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FIGURE 18. 'Critics of the ele\%eloprnent program Warn of eCological hazards in deforesta-
tion of landlor -ranching ,Cind agriculture unless adequate management controls are
maintained.
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pacification teams formed to contact isolated tribes includes an experienced FUNAI
agent as leader, a male nurse, several workers, and several acculturated Indian
interpreters from the Xingu Park. The teams are technically qualified to carry out their
mission, but successful contact and pacification efforts require unlimited patience and
time (Figure 19). Since road construction is geared to a timetable, and construction is
progressing rapidly, time is the critical factor for the pacification teams. Despite good
intentions, it seems inevitable that dislocations and some clashes will occur.
OUTLOOK
37. Considering the two key elements of the National Integration Program, it
appears that the government has the capability to carry through construction of the
planned trunk highways, but it is too early to predict whether or not it can successfully
meet the goals of the directed colonization plan. The likelihood of success hinges on
FIGURE 19. The assorted gear of a pacification team is moved
by boat to an isolated contact point.
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several -ifs--if the government limits agricultural settlement to the better soils; if it
commits sufficient resources for infrastructure; and if it successfully resists pressures
from special interest groups to divert funds to alternative programs in other regions.
38. Given adequate funds to carry it out, the design of the colonization program is
practical. The settling of colonists in agrovilas supported by a well-spaced network of
larger centers should greatly facilitate establishing and administering public services.
In contrast, many of the dozens of jerry-built localities that sprang up along the
Belem-Brasilia Highway are still without basic services because of the difficulty of
extending the services to small settlements spaced out over great distances. Many of
these settlements developed around nuclei of a filling station, restaurant, and rooming
house, and have no economic base other than service to truck drivers.
39. In a recent speech President Medici expressed his intent to begin concentrating
resources on support services for the new urban centers along the Transamazonian
and Cuiaba-Santarem highways in order that they become catalyzing centers
for the surrounding areas. He pledged every cooperation to municipal and state
governments to provide the centers with services of water, sewers, light, telephone,
education, health, welfare, and security; and he appealed to the business sector to
cooperate in building agrovilas, opening access roads, and undertaking agricultural
and livestock projects. He did not, however, specify whether additional funds would
be committed; nor did he indicate what additional incentives, if any, would be offered
the business sector for participation.
40. The funds originally projected for the colonization part of the NIP are
considered inadequate to finance such an ambitious infrastructure, and the business
sector has shown little inclination to invest in agrovilas or to open access roads. It has
invested in large-scale agricultural and livestock projects?ones that are labor
extensive. The government may, of course, make an additional resource commitment,
since the program has captured the public imagination and appeals to national pride
much as did the construction of the national capital at Brasilia. To allow the program
to fail, considering the tremendous momentum generated, could be politically
imprudent.
41. The program is unlikely to have any appreciable effect on the problem of
overpopulation ?in the Northeast. The number of laborers required for road
construction is not large enough to have a measurable impact on the Northeast, and
only small numbers of unemployed Nordestinos meet the eligibility requirements
to qualify as agricultural colonists. Initially it was announced that road construc-
tion workers and their families would be the first colonists, but INCRA soon dis-
covered that many had no farming background and few had any intention of
remaining in Amazonia after completing their job. INCRA then sought to recruit
literate, experienced, and progressive farmers from the Northeast, but was unable
to find enough qualified applicants to fill the quotas. The search for prospective
colonists was then expanded to all of Brazil, although stress was still placed on
finding as many as possible in the Northeast (Figure 20).
42. Considerable publicity attended the recruitment of several groups of well-
qualified farmers from Rio Grande do Sul (Figure 21). It was later reported that more
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FIGURE 20. A Nordestino family, selected as colonists, approaches its new home in an
agrovila.
FIGURE 21. A group of farmers from Rio Grande do Sul who chose to settle in Amazonia.
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than half returned home to Rio Grande do Sul because of difficulty in adjusting to the
heat, bad food, and insects; loss of confidence in the undertaking when some of the
promised assistance did not materialize; and, finally, displeasure with the policy of
-integrating- the agrovilas, with consequent separation from friends and loss of
regional identity.
43. Traditionally, Nordestinos have had very strong ties to family and land in the
Northeast. In past efforts to induce some of them to move to rural areas in regions
:-otitside' the 'Nort'heast; Norde'stinos have tended to stay in a new location for a
relatively brief period and then return to the Northeast unless they were able to transfer
their entire extended family to the new location.
44. The government says that some defections are to be expected, but contends that
they will be relatively few. For most colonists, hopes run high that the initial hard and
precarious pioneer life will soon lead to a much better life for themselves and their
children, and they intend to stick it out.
45. In the long run, the National Integration Program should pay dividends in terms
of national development. The construction of the highways and the settlement of
selected areas should also afford the government some of the additional security
advantages that it feels essential in this region. Finally, as a symbol, the successful
completion of the program would enhance national pride and increase public
confidence in the government's ability to achieve its goals, and, on the international
scene, it would serve as a further indicator of Brazilian strength and development
capability.
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72 66
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