IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v108y2021ics0264837721002829.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Land grabbing on Brazil's Highway BR-319 as a spearhead for Amazonian deforestation

Author

Listed:
  • Ferrante, Lucas
  • Andrade, Maryane B.T.
  • Fearnside, Philip M.

Abstract

Brazil faces its greatest period of environmental setback, where “ruralists” (large landholders and their representatives) gain access to government land in the Amazon. New roads are being paved, such as Highway BR-319 connecting Porto Velho in Brazil’s notorious “arc of deforestation” to Manaus in relatively intact central Amazônia. This highway acts as a spearhead penetrating one of the Amazon’s most preserved forest blocks. Here we report how the Brazilian government has been favoring land grabbing (grilagem) in the Amazon and how BR-319 has given access to public lands and encouraged the invasion of these areas together with land grabbing and deforestation. This is not just a process linked to the highway, as it also involves the actions of government agencies such as the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA). Illegal logging is rampant and areas of government land are being marked out by land grabbers (grileiros) for illegal sale to arriving migrants. Despite environmental legislation requiring an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for “Lot C,” which is one of stretches where deforestation is advancing, a judge has authorized paving this stretch without an EIA. Opening BR-319 and its associated side roads represents a path with no return to a tipping point of self-degradation and loss of Amazonia’s vital biodiversity and climate-stabilization functions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferrante, Lucas & Andrade, Maryane B.T. & Fearnside, Philip M., 2021. "Land grabbing on Brazil's Highway BR-319 as a spearhead for Amazonian deforestation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:108:y:2021:i:c:s0264837721002829
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105559
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837721002829
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105559?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas Ferrante & Philip M. Fearnside, 2020. "The Amazon: biofuels plan will drive deforestation," Nature, Nature, vol. 577(7789), pages 170-170, January.
    2. Benedict Probst & Ariel BenYishay & Andreas Kontoleon & Tiago N. P. Reis, 2020. "Impacts of a large-scale titling initiative on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(12), pages 1019-1026, December.
    3. Ferrante, Lucas & Gomes, Mércio & Fearnside, Philip Martin, 2020. "Amazonian indigenous peoples are threatened by Brazil’s Highway BR-319," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Laura J. Sonter & Diego Herrera & Damian J. Barrett & Gillian L. Galford & Chris J. Moran & Britaldo S. Soares-Filho, 2017. "Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shinde, Nilesh N. & Do Valle, Stella Z. Schons & Maia, Alexandre Gori & Amacher, Gregory S., 2022. "Can an environmental policy contribute to the reduction of land conflict? Evidence from the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) in the Brazilian Amazon," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322584, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Muradian, Roldan & Cahyafitri, Raras & Ferrando, Tomaso & Grottera, Carolina & Jardim-Wanderley, Luiz & Krause, Torsten & Kurniawan, Nanang I. & Loft, Lasse & Nurshafira, Tadzkia & Prabawati-Suwito, D, 2025. "Will the EU deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) reduce tropical forest loss? Insights from three producer countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    3. Vallim, Diogo & Leichsenring, Alexandre, 2025. "The effect of the beef zero deforestation commitment in the Brazilian Amazon: A spatial panel data analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    4. Carrero, Gabriel Cardoso & Walker, Robert Tovey & Simmons, Cynthia Suzanne & Fearnside, Philip Martin, 2022. "Land grabbing in the Brazilian Amazon: Stealing public land with government approval," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Conceição, Katyanne V. & Chaves, Michel E.D. & Picoli, Michelle C.A. & Sánchez, Alber H. & Soares, Anderson R. & Mataveli, Guilherme A.V. & Silva, Daniel E. & Costa, Joelma S. & Camara, Gilberto, 2021. "Government policies endanger the indigenous peoples of the Brazilian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Ana C. Rorato & Michelle C. A. Picoli & Judith A. Verstegen & Gilberto Camara & Francisco Gilney Silva Bezerra & Maria Isabel S. Escada, 2021. "Environmental Threats over Amazonian Indigenous Lands," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-28, March.
    3. Nir Kshetri & Diana Carolina Rojas Torres & Hany Besada & Maria Andreina Moros Ochoa, 2020. "Big Data as a Tool to Monitor and Deter Environmental Offenders in the Global South: A Multiple Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Prince T. Mabey & Wei Li & Abu J. Sundufu & Akhtar H. Lashari, 2020. "Environmental Impacts: Local Perspectives of Selected Mining Edge Communities in Sierra Leone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Coulibaly, Yacouba, 2025. "The effects of resource-backed loans on deforestation: Evidence from developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    6. Melissa Anne Beryl Vogt, 2021. "Ecological sensitivity within human realities concept for improved functional biodiversity outcomes in agricultural systems and landscapes," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Sebastian Luckeneder & Victor Maus & Juliana Siqueira-Gay & Tamás Krisztin & Michael Kuhn, 2025. "Forest loss and uncertain economic gains from industrial and garimpo mining in Brazilian municipalities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Joel Henrique Ellwanger & Carlos Afonso Nobre & José Artur Bogo Chies, 2022. "Brazilian Biodiversity as a Source of Power and Sustainable Development: A Neglected Opportunity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Berman, Nicolas & Couttenier, Mathieu & Leblois, Antoine & Soubeyran, Raphael, 2023. "Crop prices and deforestation in the tropics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    10. Mastrangelo, Joao Paulo S. & Gori Maia, Alexandre, 2021. "Impacts of land tenure security on deforestation: evidence for the Amazon rainforest," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313918, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Walker, Sarah & Alix-García, Jennifer & Bartlett, Anne & Calder, Alice, 2025. "Land tenure security and deforestation: Evidence from a framed field experiment in Uganda," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    12. Atmiş, Erdoğan & Yıldız, Damla & Erdönmez, Cihan, 2024. "A different dimension in deforestation and forest degradation: Non-forestry uses of forests in Turkey," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    13. Tommaso Sonno & Davide Zufacchi, 2022. "Epidemics and rapacity of multinational companies," CEP Discussion Papers dp1833, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Pagel, Jeffrey, 2025. "A natural resource curse: The unintended effects of gold mining on malaria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    15. Mastrangelo, João Paulo & Gori Maia, Alexandre, 2023. "Does land tenure security reduce deforestation? Evidence for the Brazilian Amazon," 97th Annual Conference, March 27-29, 2023, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 334335, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    16. das Neves, Patricia Bittencourt Tavares & Blanco, Claudio José Cavalcante & Montenegro Duarte, André Augusto Azevedo & das Neves, Filipe Bittencourt Souza & das Neves, Isabela Bittencourt Souza & de P, 2021. "Amazon rainforest deforestation influenced by clandestine and regular roadway network," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Meyer, Maximilian & Klingelhoeffer, Ekkehard & Naidoo, Robin & Wingate, Vladimir & Börner, Jan, 2021. "Tourism opportunities drive woodland and wildlife conservation outcomes of community-based conservation in Namibia's Zambezi region," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    18. Sang, Meiyue & Shen, Liyin, 2024. "An international perspective on carbon peaking status between a sample of 154 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 369(C).
    19. Yutong Sun & Shangrong Jiang & Shouyang Wang, 2024. "The environmental impacts and sustainable pathways of the global diamond industry," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Piva da Silva, Mariana & Fraser, James A. & Parry, Luke, 2022. "From ‘prison’ to ‘paradise’? Seeking freedom at the rainforest frontier through urban–rural migration," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:108:y:2021:i:c:s0264837721002829. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.