Land use dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon

This Special Issue contains six papers on the theme of land use dynamics as it pertains to the Brazilian Amazon. The papers attempt to comprehend human encroachment into the tropical forest biome as a process of land use change. An attempt is also made to view forest environments in a humanised light. An introductory paper sets the stage with a general discussion of agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon. Then three papers are presented describing in empirical detail ground-level processes and circumstances of farmers in the Amazon region. They present a definitive account of current agroforestry components of small producer systems; a description of rotation cycles of small producers; and succession of vegetation cover in the eastern Amazon. The final two papers are theoretical in nature and address the policy issue of property rights and resources degradation, and the dynamics of land-use and land cover. Papers are abstracted separately in International Development Abstracts.