Land Reform Settlements in the Brazilian Amazon: New drivers of LCLUC Manaus,November 2008 Marcellus Caldas, Kansas State University Robert Walker, Michigan State University Cindy Simmons, Michigan State University Steve Aldrich, Michigan State University Steve Perz, University of Florida Eugenio Arima, Hobart and William Smith College Presented at International Scientific Conference Amazon in Perspective Integrated Science for a Sustainable Future

Brazil: the highest rates of deforestation in the world Many factors have been identified as drivers of LCC Mining, logging, colonization, migration, infrastructure expansion, etc. Much remains to be learned about the social and institutional conditions underlying this massive process of environmental degradation More than three decades of LCLUC in the Brazilian Amazon

To comprehend LCLUC by looking at the underlying social and institutional circumstances that leads to: “ settlements formation, or assentamentos, in what has been referred to as DALR” The goals of this paper We will address a particular type of DALR, which is found on terra devoluta: “untitled, unoccupied government land not earmarked for public use (Article 3 – Law 601 of 1850)”

Between 1960 and 2007: - Brazil: 7,694 settlements (INCRA 2007) - Between : 1,609 assentamentos in the Amazon region - 185,000 families were involved - an area of about 140,000 km 2 The importance of DALR in the Amazon However, the assentamento formation process is not well understood, given its relative newness: - some assentamentos date from the middle 1990s and are still in phases of active development.

(1) to undertake a case study of newly formed assentamentos, and; (2) to conduct a remote sensing analysis of deforestation occurring in the assentamentos and others like it, found in the study area. Two specific objectives:

The Land Cover Change Literature The Contentious Politics Literature Theoretical Approach

It is possible to affirm, there is a lack in the literature about the formation of land reform settlements and its impact on LCC. Land Cover Change Literature

The Contentious Politics Literature What is Contentious Politics? “ C.P. differ from politics “as usual” by virtue of their innovative, often conflictive, tactics deployed in episodic efforts to redress a social wrong” (McAdam et al.,2001; Sewell, 2001; among others)

“ is a type of contentious politics ” “ is a type of contentious politics ” 1) because, it seeks to redress mal- distribution of land in Brazil 2) because, its premier tactic, land occupation, falls outside conventional societal grievance channels. DALR

The Conceptual Framework Combines C.P. theory within the LCLUC discourse specifically within the underlying/proximate causation (UPC) framework

The conceptual Framework MicroMacro Underlying Causes. Political & Institutional. Population Growth.Technological Change. Land Concentration. Poverty, Migration. Rural Poverty. Household Demography. Information Network Affect Population and leads to Social Marginalization DARL. Strong SMO motivation DALR. Spontaneous Motivation Collective Mobilization Individuals Contentious Land Invasion Land Occupation Mobilization Contentious NEW SETTLEMENT SMO Oriented. Accessible sites. Within the frontier. High land value. Private land NEW SETTLEMENT Spontaneous. Unaccessibles sites. Endogenous process. Beyond frontier. Low land value. Terra devoluta Proximate Causes. Road extension. Agricultural expansion. Logging. Shifting cultivation. Cattle raising

3 Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: “ Spontaneous DALR seeks out unclaimed lands beyond the frontier, given the low land value of primary forest, thereby minimizing the risk of individuals who occupy land without organizational support or assistance from the state ” Hypothesis 2: “ Spontaneous DALR is a consequence of early land reform policies that stimulated in-migration to the region. Specifically, early migrants have created a local population pursuing DALR via a “demographic” life cycle, whereby the second generation of the original settlers now seeks its own land ” Hypothesis 3: “ Argues that land cover change and forest fragmentation increase after DALR settlement officialization by the federal government due to federal resources for infrastructure creation”

Study Sites Extensive undertook key informants interviews from the community leaders, rural syndicates, and government agencies (2004,2006) Settlements: 13 Region 1 (Transamazon): 174 questionnaires Region 2 (South of Pará): 219 questionnaires

Land Cover Change

Land Title by Region Land security is very important for posseiros in the Transamazon region => posseiros in public land are subject to possible eviction

Land use by region

Land type before settlement formation

Different contentions in different regions Settler involvement in DALR activity by region DALR: strikes, encampments, manifestations, frente de massa, and private land occupation

The regression analysis

Deforestation by Settlement In general, all settlements found in the Transamazon region have experienced increases in amount of deforestation => however, there are notable differences in magnitudes among the settlements

Landscape Metrics