Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Rural-urban migration brings conservation threats and opportunities to Amazonian watersheds
AU - Parry, Luke
AU - Peres, Carlos A.
AU - Day, Brett
AU - Amaral, Silvana
PY - 2010/8
Y1 - 2010/8
N2 - The spatial distribution and growth of human populations have been overlooked by current debates concerning the impact of rural-urban migration for forest conservation in tropical countries. We investigated human settlement and population change in the Brazilian Amazon, combining government census data with field surveys along rivers. Rural populations were clustered and growing within 300 km of urban centers, whereas depopulation and land abandonment dominated farther from towns. The permanently inhabited extent of rivers contracted by 33 +/- 8 SE% in recent decades, and households farther upriver were more likely to be considering rural-urban migration. However, harvesting of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife by nonresidents continued into headwater regions, hundreds of kilometers beyond the last household on any given river. Policy makers should consider that expanding cities may drive deforestation and overexploitation near towns while unclear property rights threatens overharvesting and unregulated land speculation in abandoned headwaters.
AB - The spatial distribution and growth of human populations have been overlooked by current debates concerning the impact of rural-urban migration for forest conservation in tropical countries. We investigated human settlement and population change in the Brazilian Amazon, combining government census data with field surveys along rivers. Rural populations were clustered and growing within 300 km of urban centers, whereas depopulation and land abandonment dominated farther from towns. The permanently inhabited extent of rivers contracted by 33 +/- 8 SE% in recent decades, and households farther upriver were more likely to be considering rural-urban migration. However, harvesting of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife by nonresidents continued into headwater regions, hundreds of kilometers beyond the last household on any given river. Policy makers should consider that expanding cities may drive deforestation and overexploitation near towns while unclear property rights threatens overharvesting and unregulated land speculation in abandoned headwaters.
KW - Amazon
KW - Brazil
KW - nontimber forest products
KW - property rights
KW - riverine
KW - rural exodus
KW - urbanization
KW - TROPICAL FORESTS
KW - ECOLOGY
KW - BIODIVERSITY
KW - WORLDS
KW - SUSTAINABILITY
KW - DEFORESTATION
KW - WILDERNESS
KW - FISHERIES
KW - PRODUCTS
KW - RESERVES
U2 - 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2010.00106.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2010.00106.x
M3 - Journal article
VL - 3
SP - 251
EP - 259
JO - Conservation Letters
JF - Conservation Letters
SN - 1755-263X
IS - 4
ER -