Resenha do livro “The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the tropical Woodlands”

Resenha do livro  “The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the tropical Woodlands

Resenha do livro “The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the tropical Woodlands”

Resenha do livro  “The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the tropical Woodlands

Os Wai Wai da Comunidade Jatapuzinho, em Roraima, Frente aos Grandes Projetos na Amazônia

Este artigo trata de uma análise sobre os impactos dos grandes projetos de desenvolvimento na Amazônia Brasileira em terras indígenas, pesquisando bibliografias e teóricos que tratam sobre o tema em nível nacional e continental, em especial a situação vivenciada pelos Wai Wai na Terra Indígena Trombetas Mapuera, Roraima. Diferentes elementos participaram na formação atual das terras oficialmente reconhecidas e das comunidades do povo Wai Wai, como: o surgimento de novas comunidades no rio Jatapuzinho e no Jatapu, extrativismo da castanha, impactos ambientais e sociais pela construção da estrada Perimetral Norte, que no contexto do projeto Calha Norte chegou a penetrar na T.I., mas foi abandonada, apesar de estar já toda planejada. Neste contexto analisamos os impactos que a Usina Hidrelétrica de Jatapu, embora fora da terra indígena, pois se encontra a montante do limite da terra, no rio Jatapu, impacta de diversas formas na vida das comunidades, as quais se sentem afetadas pela barragem da UH e os impactos sobre a disponibilidade de alimentos e do rio como recurso central de sua vivência. Palavras-Chaves: Índios Wai Wai; Impactos de Grandes Projetos em Terra Indígena; Usina Hidrelétrica de Jatapu; The Wai Wai Jatapuzinho community in Roraima, Compared to Large Projects in the Amazon Abstract This article deals with an analysis of the impacts of large development projects in the Brazilian Amazon on indigenous lands, relating bibliographies and theorists dealing with the theme at national and continental level, especially the situation experienced by the Wai Wai in the Trombetas Mapuera Indigenous Land, Roraima. Different elements participated in the current formation of the officially recognized lands and communities of the Wai Wai people, such as: the emergence of new communities in the Jatapuzinho and Jatapu rivers, brown extraction, environmental and social impacts due to the construction of the Perimetral Norte road, which in the context of the Calha Norte project penetrated into IT, but was abandoned, despite being already planned. In this context, we analyze the impacts that the Jatapu Hydroelectric Power Plant, although outside the indigenous land, because it is located upstream of the earth's boundary on the Jatapu River, impacts in various ways on the life of the communities, which are affected by the UH dam and the impacts on the availability of food and the river as the central resource of their experience. Keywords: Wai Wai Indians; Impacts of Major Projects on Indigenous Land; Jatapu Hydroelectric Power Plant. La Comunidad Wai Wai Jatapuzinho de Roraima, en Comparación con Grandes Proyectos en la Amazonia Resumen Este artículo trata de un análisis sobre los impactos de los grandes proyectos de desarrollo en la Amazonia brasileña en tierras indígenas, relacionando bibliografías y teóricos que tratan sobre el tema a nivel nacional y continental, en especial la situación vivenciada por los Wai Wai en la Tierra Indígena Trompetas Mapuera, Roraima. Diferentes elementos participaron en la formación actual de las tierras oficialmente reconocidas y de las comunidades del pueblo Wai Wai, como: el surgimiento de nuevas comunidades en el río Jatapuzinho y en el Jatapu, extractivismo de la castaña, impactos ambientales y sociales por la construcción de la carretera Perimetral Norte, que en el contexto del proyecto Calha Norte llegó a penetrar en la TI, pero fue abandonada, a pesar de estar ya toda planeada. En este contexto analizamos los impactos que la Usina Hidroeléctrica de Jatapu, aunque fuera de la tierra indígena, pues se encuentra a lo largo del límite de la tierra, en el río Jatapu, que impacta de diversas formas en la vida de las comunidades, las cuales se sienten afectadas por la represa de la UH y los impactos sobre la disponibilidad de alimentos y del río como recurso central de su vivencia. Palabras Claves: Indios Wai Wai; Impactos de Grandes Proyectos en Tierra Indígena; Usina Hidroeléctrica de Jatapu

UMA APLICAÇÃO DE MODELAGEM DO CICLO HIDROLÓGICO E IMPACTOS DO AUMENTO DA CONCENTRAÇÃO DE CO2 ATMOSFÉRICO NA AMAZÔNIA

O presente trabalho busca validar um modelo de balanço hídrico para permitir sua aplicabilidade no bioma Amazônico, em linha com o projeto Amazon-FACE (free-air CO2 enrichment), buscando melhorar o entendimento dos efeitos do aumento de CO2 na dinâmica hídrica desse bioma. O modelo a ser utilizado trata-se do submodelo de balanço hídrico do modelo CPTEC-Potential Vegetation Model 2 (PVM2). A avaliação deste submodelo ocorrerá através dos protocolos desenvolvidos pelo International Land Model Benchmarking Project (I-LAMB). Para avaliar o efeito do aumento de CO2 no bioma amazônico será adicionado ao modelo 200ppmv de CO2 a mais que a concentração atual. As variáveis a serem avaliadas serão água no solo, evapotranspiração e escoamento superficial. O projeto ainda está em andamento, mas apresenta alguns resultados preliminares referentes a atualização do modelo hídrico, sendo a aplicação e validação os próximos passos

Resenha do livro “The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the tropical Woodlands”

Resenha do livro  “The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millenia of Sustainable Cultivation of the tropical Woodlands

Amazon Forest Ecosystem Responses to Elevated Atmospheric CO2 and Alterations in Nutrient Availability: Filling the Gaps with Model-Experiment Integration

The impacts of elevated CO2 (eCO2) and alterations in nutrient availability on the carbon (C) storage capacity and resilience of the Amazon forest remain highly uncertain. Carbon dynamics are controlled by multiple eco-physiological processes responding to environmental change, but we lack solid experimental evidence, hampering theory development and thus representation in ecosystem models. Here, we present two ecosystem-scale manipulation experiments, to be carried out in the Amazon, that examine tropical ecosystem responses to eCO2 and nutrient addition and thus will elucidate the representation of crucial ecological processes by ecosystem models. We highlight current gaps in our understanding of tropical ecosystem responses to projected global changes in light of the eco-physiological assumptions considered by current ecosystem models. We conclude that a more detailed process-based representation of the spatial (e.g. soil type; plant functional type) and temporal (seasonal and inter-annual variation) diversity of tropical forests is needed to enhance model predictions of ecosystem responses to projected global environmental change

When enough should be enough: Improving the use of current agricultural lands could meet production demands and spare natural habitats in Brazil

Providing food and other products to a growing human population while safeguarding natural ecosystems and the provision of their services is a significant scientific, social and political challenge. With food demand likely to double over the next four decades, anthropization is already driving climate change and is the principal force behind species extinction, among other environmental impacts. The sustainable intensification of production on current agricultural lands has been suggested as a key solution to the competition for land between agriculture and natural ecosystems. However, few investigations have shown the extent to which these lands can meet projected demands while considering biophysical constraints. Here we investigate the improved use of existing agricultural lands and present insights into avoiding future competition for land. We focus on Brazil, a country projected to experience the largest increase in agricultural production over the next four decades and the richest nation in terrestrial carbon and biodiversity. Using various models and climatic datasets, we produced the first estimate of the carrying capacity of Brazil's 115 million hectares of cultivated pasturelands. We then investigated if the improved use of cultivated pasturelands would free enough land for the expansion of meat, crops, wood and biofuel, respecting biophysical constraints (i.e., terrain, climate) and including climate change impacts. We found that the current productivity of Brazilian cultivated pasturelands is 32–34% of its potential and that increasing productivity to 49–52% of the potential would suffice to meet demands for meat, crops, wood products and biofuels until at least 2040, without further conversion of natural ecosystems. As a result up to 14.3 Gt CO2 Eq could be mitigated. The fact that the country poised to undergo the largest expansion of agricultural production over the coming decades can do so without further conversion of natural habitats provokes the question whether the same can be true in other regional contexts and, ultimately, at the global scale