Profile of the immovable properties and of the occupants of the State Forest of Sustained Yield of Mequéns River, in the State of Rondônia

Abstract

The Brazilian Amazon forest became intensively occupied in the decade of 1970, also known as “Decade of Destruction”, with the implementation of colonization projects that led to an intense deforestation and an irregular occupation. Several of those projects were implemented in Rondônia state, where the occupation process was stimulated by official colonization programs. The search for areas of agricultural production, livestock and logging, led to the occupation of all the available spaces in Rondônia, leaving only the areas for preservation.
However, those areas were not spared from illegal occupation. Several factors contributed to this kind of criminal attitude. The effective occupation of protected areas was used as an argument by the government of Rondônia state to propose the revocation of several Conservation Units (UC), delivering those areas definitely to the environmental transgressors. This study evaluates the Floresta Estadual de Rendimento Sustentável do Rio Mequéns (FERS), which is a conservation unit created in 1990 and revoked in 2010 due to Rondônia government requirement. This paper presents the results of the studies performed on the FERS Mequéns River, especially in the first years of its existence. From the analysis of data, a landed profile was made for the referred conservation unit, considering as indicators immovable properties, dimensions, utilization, time of occupation and other elements, such as the profile of the owners of the immovable properties and the population inhabiting the space of the UC. The main factors that contributed to the occupation of the FERS Mequéns River were also documented.

https://doi.org/10.14195/0871-1623_35_7