Human Migration and Agricultural Expansion: A Threat to the Maya Tropical Forests
1997; Oxford University Press; Volume: 95; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/jof/95.12.27
ISSN1938-3746
AutoresSteven A. Sader, Conrad C. Reining, Thomas L. Sever, Carlos Soza,
Tópico(s)Latin American rural development
Resumos in other parts of Central America, the onceremote tropical forests of Guatemala are being cut and burned to create new farmland.Evidence of the threat to the ancient lands of the Mayas comes from timeseries Landsat Thematic Mapper observations and analysis.In this paper we estimate deforestation rates and look for trends.Satellite images were used to quantify and monitor rates, patterns, and trends of forest clearing during a period corresponding to new road construction and significant human migration into the newly accessible forest region.The Peten District (36,000 square kilometers) is the largest and most remote region of Guatemala.The northern part of the district, along with adjacent Mexican states (Chiapas and Campeche) and Belize (Rio Bravo Conservation District), constitutes the largest contiguous tropical moist forest left in Central America.The center of the ancient Maya empire, it contains many of the largest and most famous classic Maya sites, including the popular tourist attraction Tikal National Park.In the thousand years since Maya culture waned, this area had not experienced significant population increases until the mid-1960s, when government policies began to encourage colonization of the region.In 1997 the Peten population is estimated at 500,000 people (N.B. Schwartz, pers.commun.)
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