Deforestation and land use in state of Pará - Amazônia

Abstract

This paper proposes analyze the relation of land use in the Amazônia and the effects of agricultural production on deforestation in some municipalities in the State of Pará. The economic activity of agriculture can compromise the performance of government policies to combat deforestation (that falled in the first decade of this century) and cause an overexploitation of natural resources in the region. Given these assumptions, the research analyzed the behavior of farming (main agricultural crops and cattle heads) in the state of Pará in the last decade, and verified the influence of these activities on the municipal deforestation. General data showed that the correlation made between the gross value of municipal agricultural production with deforestation in the municipalities of Medicilância, Santarém and São Félix do Xingu were -0.4824 (permanent agriculture); -0.4708 (Seasonal crop). For cattle, the relationship was strong positive (0.9326).