- Physical features
- Study and exploration
Agriculture and forestry
Upland rice, manioc (cassava), and, to a lesser extent, corn (maize) are cultivated on small plantations, and they form the mainstay of the carbohydrates for the caboclo diet. Jute, heart of palm (from Euterpe oleracea), and guarana (for a favourite Brazilian soft drink) are all minor commercial crops. Black pepper, introduced from Southeast Asia, has become a specialty crop of Japanese colonists.
Cattle pastures by far dominate land use on the cleared parts of the Amazon basin, both in areas of large ranches, such as those in southern Pará and Mato Grosso, and in areas initially cleared by the owners of smaller individual operations who cultivate crops, as along the Transamazonian Highway. Pasture is even dominant in areas such as Rondônia, where government programs have promoted the cultivation of cacao, coffee, Brazil nuts, and other perennial crops for which a ready cash market exists.
Excellent timbers are furnished by mahoganies (Swietenia macrophylla and S. humilis), Amazonian cedars (Cedrela odorata), Brazilian rosewoods (Dalbergia nigra), and many other species. Some types, however, are threatened by intensive exploitation. Other trees, such as the coumarou, or tonka bean (Dipteryx odorata), yield perfumes, flavourings, and pharmaceutical ingredients. However, the rubber and Brazil nut trees produce more-valuable commodities. The rubber tree, for example, has been one of the reasons for the intense penetration and exploitation of the forest. It gave rise to a period of great but temporary prosperity, especially for the city of Manaus from 1890 to 1920. The rubber gathered from both wild trees and those grown in small plantations continues to make a contribution to the Amazonian economy.
In Brazil areas within the remaining undisturbed forest in Pará state have been designated for the use of rubber tappers and nut collectors. Yet the establishment of such “extractive reserve” lands have attracted illegal and often dangerous squatters and speculators, known as grileiros. These armed land squatters unlawfully clear land for soybean farms and lumber operations and usually obtain land titles by devious and violent means. Soybean cultivation in particular has expanded because of the growing worldwide demand for biofuels (Brazil is the largest producer of soybean-based biodiesel of any country). In 2004 the Brazilian government signed decrees to create thousands of square miles of land preserves in the areas where longtime residents had been susceptible to attacks by grileiros. Although the preserved land was put under government control, disputes among grileiros and peasants living in the rainforest have escalated into the early 21st century.
Corporate farming and agroforestry operations such as Fordlandia, Belterra, and Jari in eastern Brazil and Tournavista in Peru have had little success, because of poor soil fertility; the Jari enterprise, for example, was taken over by a consortium of Brazilian investors and the government in 1982. Transnational corporations investing in livestock operations, especially in southern Pará and Mato Grosso, included Volkswagen AG; Swift-Eckrich, Inc.; King Ranch, Inc.; and Liquigas Italiana. All subsequently terminated their activities.
Mining and energy
The exploitation of the enormously rich mineral complex of the Serra dos Carajás area west of the town of Marabá on the Tocantins River has been highly profitable, but it has also had harmful effects on the environment. This site, one of the world’s largest and richest iron ore deposits, also produces gold, copper, nickel, manganese, tin, and bauxite. The million-acre concession is run by Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD; now known as Vale); initially, it was a partnership between private capital and the federal government, but it was privatized in 1997. Vale’s plans for the local smelting of the iron ore in the 2000s required the clearing of thousands of acres of forest annually to provide charcoal for producing pig iron. A rail line connects the Carajás development with the