Periodization of deforestation in the Legal Amazon: From the mid-20th century to the beginning of the 21st century

Abstract

In this article the pattern of deforestation in the Legal Amazon (AML – Amazônia Legal), the relation between deforestation, agricultural and livestock activities and environmental enforcement in the AML are analyzed, and the managements of the different political regimes that governed Brazil are reviewed. The purpose of these different approaches is to establish a periodization for the evolution of deforestation in the AML. Based on the spatial pattern, agents and vectors of deforestation in the AML are defined in two large periods, with a temporal divider in the 2000s. On the other hand, considering the models of Amazon occupancy and development, associated with the evolution of deforestation, 5 periods are defined, with temporal dividers in the middle of the decades of 1960, 1980, 2000 and 2010. In brief, there is a slow evolution of the policies to protect the Amazon since the end of the 20^th century, with emphasis on the decade of 2000, while in the current period, the management of the AML is undergoing socioenvironmental regression.