Does Land Tenure Insecurity Drive Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the detrimental impact of land tenure insecurity on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. It is related to recent controversies about the detrimental impact of land laws on deforestation, which seem to legitimize land encroachments. The latter is mainly the result of land tenure insecurity which is a key characteristic of this region and results from a long history of interactions between rural social unrest and land reforms or land laws. A simple model is developed where strategic interactions between farmers lead to excessive deforestation. One of the empirical implications of the model is a positive relationship between land tenure insecurity and the extent of deforestation. The latter is tested on data from a panel of Brazilian Amazon municipalities. The negative effect of land tenure insecurity proxied by the number of squatters on deforestation is not rejected when estimations are controlled for the possible endogeneity of squatters. One of the main policy implications is that ex post legalizations of settlements must be accompanied by the enforcement of environmental obligations.deforestation, land tenure insecurity, squatters, Panel Data Analysis, Brazil

LAND REFORM AND DEFORESTATION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA

No processo de reforma agrária brasileiro é comum a redistribuição de terra ocorrer por meio de invasões das grandes proprieades pelos sem terra. Esse mecanismo introduz insegurança no direito de propriedade fundiária e, na Regîão Amazônica, tem como consequência o excesso de desflorestamento. Esse trabalho utiliza um jogo não-cooperativo para mostrar que as interações estratégicas entre proprietários e posseiros em um contexto instittucional onde as florestas naturais são consideradas como recursos de livre acesso implicam o excesso de desflorestamento. A principal implicação analítica do modelo é que a taxa de desflorestamento de determinada área tende a aumentar com o número de posseiros na área. Essa implicação é confirmada quando testada em um painel de dados censitários municipais da Amazônia brasileira no período 1970-96 e esse resultado se mantem mesmo quando se controla o problema da endogeneidade do número de posseiros na especificação de uma equação de desflorestamento. Da perspectiva ambiental, portanto, o resultado permite questionar os mecanismos utilizados pelas políticas de reforma agrária no Brasil.----------------------------------------In Brazil, the land reform involves redistribution of land plots from large landowners to squatters. It generates property rights insecurity which alters land uses and fosters forest depletion. In this paper, a non cooperative game model is developed where natural forests are considered as an open access resource and the strategic interactions between landowners and squatters lead to an over deforestation. The main theoretical implication is a positive impact of squatters on deforestation. It is successfully tested on a panel data set covering the municipalities of the Legal Amazonia controlling for the endogeneity of squatters in a deforestation equation. The result questions the modalities of the Brazilian state-led land reformreforma agrária, desflorestamento, insegurança dos direitos de propriedade, econometria de painel, Land reform, Deforestation, land tenure insecurity, panel estimation, Land Economics/Use,

Property rights and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

This paper focuses on the impact of property rights insecurity on deforestation in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Deforestation is considered as a risk management strategy: property rights insecurity reduces the present value of forests and fosters forest conversion into agricultural and pasture lands. Moreover, deforestation is the consequence of strategic interactions between landowners and squatters. Landowners clear the forest preventively in order to assert the productive use of land and to reduce the expropriation risk. Squatters invade land plots, clear the forest and may afterwards gain official recognition with formal property titles. A particular attention is paid to the measure of land property rights insecurity in the Brazilian context. It is assumed that property rights insecurity has a multidimensional character taken into account by the number of homicides related to land conflicts and expropriation procedures. Principal component analysis allows synthesising such information. An econometric model of deforestation is estimated on a panel dataset on the 1988-2000 period and the nine states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon. The hypothesis that insecure land property rights contribute to higher rates of deforestation is not rejected when the simultaneity bias between insecure property rights and deforestation is addressed. This result questions the modality of the Brazilian land reform that considers forested areas as unproductive and thus open for expropriation procedures.deforestation;insecure property rights;Brazilian Legal Amazon

Does Land Tenure Insecurity Drive Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the detrimental impact of land tenure insecurity on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. It is related to recent controversies about the detrimental impact of land laws on deforestation, which seem to legitimize land encroachments. The latter is mainly the result of land tenure insecurity which is a key characteristic of this region and results from a long history of interactions between rural social unrest and land reforms or land laws. A simple model is developed where strategic interactions between farmers lead to excessive deforestation. One of the empirical implications of the model is a positive relationship between land tenure insecurity and the extent of deforestation. The latter is tested on data from a panel of Brazilian Amazon municipalities. The negative effect of land tenure insecurity proxied by the number of squatters on deforestation is not rejected when estimations are controlled for the possible endogeneity of squatters. One of the main policy implications is that ex post legalizations of settlements must be accompanied by the enforcement of environmental obligations.deforestation;land tenure insecurity;squatters;Panel Data Analysis;Brazil

Property rights and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

This paper focuses on the impact of property rights insecurity on deforestation in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Deforestation is considered as a risk management strategy: property rights insecurity reduces the present value of forests and fosters forest conversion into agricultural and pasture lands. Moreover, deforestation is the consequence of strategic interactions between landowners and squatters. Landowners clear the forest preventively in order to assert the productive use of land and to reduce the expropriation risk. Squatters invade land plots, clear the forest and may afterwards gain official recognition with formal property titles. A particular attention is paid to the measure of land property rights insecurity in the Brazilian context. It is assumed that property rights insecurity has a multidimensional character taken into account by the number of homicides related to land conflicts and expropriation procedures. Principal component analysis allows synthesising such information. An econometric model of deforestation is estimated on a panel dataset on the 1988-2000 period and the nine states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon. The hypothesis that insecure land property rights contribute to higher rates of deforestation is not rejected when the simultaneity bias between insecure property rights and deforestation is addressed. This result questions the modality of the Brazilian land reform that considers forested areas as unproductive and thus open for expropriation procedures

Insécurité foncière et déforestation dans l'Amazonie brésilienne

We study the determinants of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. A particular attention is paid to the effects of tenure insecurity generated by poorly defined property rights. Tenure insecurity has a theoretical ambiguous effect on deforestation. On the one hand, it reduces agricultural profitability and thus discourages forest clearing that is considered as an agricultural investment. On the other hand, the Brazilian legislation grants property rights to squatters who make a beneficial use of land and thus encourages land owners and squatters to clear “unproductive” i.e. forested lands. Livestock activities also contribute to deforestation as they are less exposed than agricultural activities to tenure insecurity. The econometric approach of the effect of tenure insecurity on the Amazonian deforestation relies on a panel where temporal and individual heterogeneity are controlled for. Tenure insecurity that is measured by the number of rural murders is shown to have an unambiguous positive and significant effect on deforestation.

Tratamento de águas com excesso de ânions fluoreto e nitrato utilizando HDLs como adsorventes

O objetivo principal do projeto foi buscar um adsorventeefetivo para a remoção de nitratos e fluoretos de águaspara consumo humano. Foi construído um filtro a base deleito fixo para ser utilizado em águas de poços artesianos,beneficiando diretamente a população. Para atingir estesobjetivos, inicialmente se realizou um screening de diversosadsorventes a base de HDLs, argilas e zeóitas para avaliarquais materiais são mais adequados para a remoção denitratos e fluoretos. Os materiais mais promissores foramos HDLs e os mesmos foram empregados em um leito fixoe amostras reais. Os melhores resultados foram obtidos parao HDL com tamanho de partícula acima de 1mm e comvazão de água abaixo de 0,2 mL/s. O filtro é empregado com30g de HDL e consegue-se água potável durante 10h de usocontinuo (equivalente a 4L de água tratada). O adsorventepode ser regenerado através de calcinação a 450oC e tratamentoácido com HCl. Esta metodologia foi desenvolvidana forma de filtros de fácil construção caseira para seremusados em poços da região ou uso doméstico.Fil: Pergher, Sibele B. C.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Cano, Leonardo Andres. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Barros Eustaquio, Hugo Mozer. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Araujo da Costa, Vilma. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Santos Borba, Loiva Liana. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Oliveira da Silva, Anne Priscila. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Garcia Penha, Fabio. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Martinez Huitle, Carlos Alberto. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Dallago, Rogerio Marcos. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Brasi

Daño cardiaco frente a hepático por consumo de bebidas energizantes en ratas cepa Holtzman

RESUMENObjetivo: El consumo de bebidas energéticas (BE) está aumentando principalmente en jóvenes, debido a que promete mejorar el estado de alerta, el rendimiento físico y cognitivo y evita la fatiga. En nuestro país, una BE tiene alta concentración de cafeína y azúcar por botella, y es altamente comercializada y barata. Sin embargo, las BE tienen efectos adversos como complicaciones cardiovasculares, neurales y gastrointestinales. Los estudios indican un mayor daño en hígado y corazón, señalados por altos niveles séricos de GOT y daño tisular. El objetivo de nuestro estudio es determinar si el corazón o hígado, presenta más daño por consumo de BE en ratas Holtzman. Métodos: Se clasificaron 32 ratas Holtzman macho aleatoriamente en dos grupos con tratamientos diferentes por administración oral. El Grupo 1 (Control) recibió agua potable y el Grupo 2 (Experimental) recibió una bebida energética de 5,49 ml / 260 g; ambos grupos durante 30 días. Se proporcionó aclimatación previa y alimento. Durante el período experimental, hubo cuatro extracciones de sangre para análisis de GOT sérico. Se sacrificaron por exanguinación bajo anestesia obteniendo muestras de corazón e hígado. Resultados: Se encontró aumento de la concentración sérica de GOT en el grupo experimental comparado con el control. El análisis histológico que evaluó congestión vascular, necrosis y edema en ambos tejidos, reveló que el corazón tenía mayor daño que el hígado. Conclusión: El tejido cardiaco presenta mayor daño que el tejido hepático por consumo de BE en ratas Holtzman macho, manifestados por incremento de GOT y alteraciones histopatológicas.Palabras clave: Bebidas energéticas, transaminasas glutámicas oxaloacéticas (GOT), daño cardiaco, daño hepático. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17268/rmt.2019.v14i03.0