Settlement Formation and Land Cover and Land Use Change: A Case Study in the Brazilian Amazon

• Published in: Journal of Latin American geography Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 125 - 144
• Main Authors: Caldas, Marcellus M., Simmons, Cynthia, Walker, Robert, Perz, Stephen, Aldrich, Stephen, Pereira, Ritaumaria, Leite, Flavia, Arima, Eugenio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austin Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers 01.01.2010; University of Texas Press; University of Texas at Austin (University of Texas Press)
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Analysis; Brazil; Colonization; Deforestation; Geography; Land cover; Land reform; Land settlement patterns; Land use; Land use change; Private land; Public land; Social aspects; Brazil
• ISSN: 1545-2476; 1548-5811
• DOI: 10.1353/lag.0.0066

The present paper describes the contentious process of settlement formation of a particular type of land reform settlement, which we call "spontaneous" direct action land reform. In addition, the paper place the settlement formation process within a land cover and land use framework by describing the underlying processes that lead to spontaneous settlement formation in terra devoluta in the Brazilian Amazon. The paper concludes with policy recommendations. O presente artigo descreve o processo de criação de um tipo particular de assentamento de reforma agrária, no qual o denominamos "espontâneo". Em adição, o artigo coloca o processo de formação de assentamento dentro de uma conceptualização de mudança de cobertura vegetal e uso da terra, e descreve as causas que levam a formação de assentamento espontâneos em terra devoluta na Amazônia Brasileira. O estudo conclue com recomendações de política agrária.