What is the colonisation of the Amazon?
Factors contributing to Colonisation
There are many contributing factors to the colonisation of the Amazon, including cattle ranching, hydro-electric dams, logging, agriculture and mining. All of these different land uses of the rainforest involve the changing of the surrounding environment for urbanisation.
My main focus is going to be on mining. Mining in the amazon is mainly for gold, however there is also oil exploration.
My main focus is going to be on mining. Mining in the amazon is mainly for gold, however there is also oil exploration.
Effects on the people
Mining in the Amazon has various effects on different people. One of the positive results of mining is that it provides jobs for the local people. However mining is not the only industry that local people can get a good income from and is sustainable, for example eco-tourism. However mining also has negative effects on the surrounding indigenous community. Mines can also cause the displacement of local people, often resulting in them turning to ‘slash and burn’ culture for income. But it’s not only their homes that mines can destroy, The chemicals used during the mining process not only cause harm to the environment but when the local people are living off the land they are also affected. Water and food contamination can mean sickness and soil contamination makes it impossible to grow crops. The indigenous people are also at risk of disease from settlers that they have no immunity to. The settlers do not always respect the indigenous tribes’ cultures and mining also causes many battles over land rights. Mines will often want to be built on sacred land for tribes, so this affects their culture and can result in the loss of a tribe’s history and rituals. So, not only does mining affect the local people already living in the area before the mine was set up, but it also brings with it many settlers and renowned wildcat miners, who set up illegal mines, and destroy lots of the rainforest.
Effects on environment
Mining gold in the amazon. Most of the gold is found in the flood plains and drained river banks and to extract the gold they use hydraulic mining techniques, which involve blasting away at river banks, clearing the surrounding rainforests, and using heavy machinery to expose potential gold deposits. These high impact actions mean that mining has a large effect on the immediate eco-systems. Mining companies also use mercury, a toxic substance, to separate the gold from other sediments which, if leaked into the environment, can potentially poison the location. For example in Guyana in 1995, over one billion gallons (four billion litres) of cyanide-laced waste water was released into a tributary of the Essequibo. This caused the widespread death of plant and animal life, poisoned the soil in the floodplain that was used for agriculture and polluted the main source of drinking water for thousands of people. This disaster shows the potential damage that some toxic substances can do to the environment from mining if not properly contained.
Another mining technique used for not just gold is open-pit mining. This involves removing the top layers of the land to look for the minerals underneath. This also means that the area of the land desired for the pit needs to be cleared which results in the deforestation of that particular area of rainforest.
However the environment is not just affected by the immediate extraction of the gold or other resource, it also results in roads and building being built in order to provide easy access, transportation and shelter for the workers. One of the biggest roads built was the Trans-Amazon Highway, which allows industry deeper penetration into the Amazon Rainforest more easily and destroyed huge areas of forest.
Another mining technique used for not just gold is open-pit mining. This involves removing the top layers of the land to look for the minerals underneath. This also means that the area of the land desired for the pit needs to be cleared which results in the deforestation of that particular area of rainforest.
However the environment is not just affected by the immediate extraction of the gold or other resource, it also results in roads and building being built in order to provide easy access, transportation and shelter for the workers. One of the biggest roads built was the Trans-Amazon Highway, which allows industry deeper penetration into the Amazon Rainforest more easily and destroyed huge areas of forest.
Policies surrounding colonisation
The colonisation of the Amazon has been taking place for many years, with the government implementing many policies to try and promote the urbanisation of this environment.
In the 1940s the government decided to begin the development of the Amazon Basin, with the president stating in one speech that, “The Amazon, under the impact of our will and labor, shall cease to be a simple chapter in the history of the world, and made equivalent to other great rivers, shall become a chapter in the history of human civilization. Everything which has up to now been done in Amazonas, whether in agriculture or extractive industry... must be transformed into rational exploitation.” This speech shows that, at this time, the Amazon was not seen as an environment to be preserved, but instead as a source of income that they could exploit easily.
Another one of these policies previously instigated by the Brazilian government was a campaign with the slogan “Land without men for men without land”. (WRM, 15TH SEPT) This policy was developed to try to encourage the poorer portion of the population, that were living in poverty, that the Rainforest would act as a good source of income and was a productive place to live and work in.
Furthermore the government also passed a law that if a person could demonstrate effective cultivation for a year and a day, then they could claim a right to the land and use it to their own profit. This caused a surge in cattle ranching and other commercial farming, as people wanting to make as much profit with the land as possible.
In the 1940s the government decided to begin the development of the Amazon Basin, with the president stating in one speech that, “The Amazon, under the impact of our will and labor, shall cease to be a simple chapter in the history of the world, and made equivalent to other great rivers, shall become a chapter in the history of human civilization. Everything which has up to now been done in Amazonas, whether in agriculture or extractive industry... must be transformed into rational exploitation.” This speech shows that, at this time, the Amazon was not seen as an environment to be preserved, but instead as a source of income that they could exploit easily.
Another one of these policies previously instigated by the Brazilian government was a campaign with the slogan “Land without men for men without land”. (WRM, 15TH SEPT) This policy was developed to try to encourage the poorer portion of the population, that were living in poverty, that the Rainforest would act as a good source of income and was a productive place to live and work in.
Furthermore the government also passed a law that if a person could demonstrate effective cultivation for a year and a day, then they could claim a right to the land and use it to their own profit. This caused a surge in cattle ranching and other commercial farming, as people wanting to make as much profit with the land as possible.