Diversifying Incomes and Losing Landscape Complexity in Quilombola Shifting Cultivation Communities of the Atlantic Rain

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Diversifying Incomes and Losing Landscape Complexity in Quilombola Shifting Cultivation Communities of the Atlantic Rainforest (Brazil) Cristina Adams & Lucia Chamlian Munari & Nathalie Van Vliet Rui Sergio Sereni Murrieta & Barbara Ann Piperata & Celia Futemma Nelson Novaes Pedroso Jr. & Carolina Santos Taqueda Mirella Abrahão Crevelaro & Vânia Luísa Spressola-Prado

Published online: 26 September 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Abstract Shifting cultivation systems have been blamed as the primary cause of tropical deforestation and are being transformed through various forms of conservation and development policies and through the emergence of new markets for cash crops. Here, we analyze the outcomes of different policies on land use/land cover change (LUCC) in a traditional, shifting cultivation landscape in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil), one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots. We also investigate the impacts of those policies on the environment and local livelihoods in Quilombola communities, which are formed by descendants of former Maroon

colonies. Our findings show that conservation and social policies have had mixed effects both on the conservation of the Atlantic Forest and on the livelihoods of the Quilombola. We conclude that future interventions in the region need to build on the new, functional links between sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity, where less restrictive state policies leave room for new opportunities in self-organization and innovation.

C. Adams (*) Laboratory of Human Ecology, Department of Environmental Management, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, Av. Arlindo Bétio, 1000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil 03828-000 e-mail: [email protected]

M. Abrahão Crevelaro e-mail: [email protected]

L. Chamlian Munari : R. S. Sereni Murrieta : N. Novaes Pedroso Jr. : C. Santos Taqueda : M. Abrahão Crevelaro : V. L. Spressola-Prado Laboratory of Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Biosciences Institute, University of São Paulo, R. do Matão, 277( São Paulo, SP, Brazil 05508-090 L. Chamlian Munari e-mail: [email protected] R. S. Sereni Murrieta e-mail: [email protected] N. Novaes Pedroso Jr. e-mail: [email protected] C. Santos Taqueda e-mail: [email protected]

Keywords Shifting cultivation . LUCC . Forest transition . Atlantic Forest . Brazil

V. L. Spressola-Prado e-mail: [email protected] N. Van Vliet Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark e-mail: [email protected] B. A. Piperata Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, 4054 Smith Laboratory, 174 W. 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210, USA e-mail: [email protected] C. Futemma NEPAM - University of Campinas, Rua dos Flamboyants, 155, Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, SP, Brazil 13083-867 e-mail: [email protected]

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Introduction Deforestation is the main path for land use/land cover change (LUCC) in tropical forested areas. However,