In:
Latin American Research Review, Cambridge University Press (CUP), Vol. 37, No. 1 ( 2002), p. 144-159
Abstract:
Observers have argued that as indigenous peoples become more acculturated and their reserves more populous, they begin to exploit tropical rain forests much as colonists and other outsiders do. The history of changes in land use between 1950 and 1980 among the Shuar, an indigenous group in the Ecuadorian Amazon, would appear to support this convergence thesis. The Shuar began to clear land, plant pastures, and acquire cattle, much like their mestizo competitors for land. Using survey and remote-sensing data for a later period, from 1987 to 1997, we demonstrate that convergence has given way to divergence in land-use trends among the two groups. While mestizo smallholders throughout the region continue to rely on cattle ranching, Shuar smallholders close to roads have begun to reforest their lands and cultivate former garden crops like coffee and cacao as cash crops. These recent trends in Shuar land use suggest that even when Amerindians become more acculturated, they still maintain more biologically diverse landscapes than their mestizo neighbors.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0023-8791
,
1542-4278
DOI:
10.1017/S0023879100019385
Language:
English
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publication Date:
2002
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2052199-6
SSG:
7,36
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