The Positive And Negative Impacts Of Polonoroeste Development

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The Northwest Region Integrated Development Program other wise known as the Polonoroeste Development Program, was a $1.6 billion dollar project designed to pave 1,500 km of road and resettle migrants in the Northwestern Area of Brazil. This area included the states of Mato Grasso and later Rondonia. The plan was for it to consolidate the agricultural settlements that already existed, while allowing and encouraging the establishment of new settlements. The largest negative outcome of this project included environmental devastation of the area from uncontrolled migration. Overall, the negative impacts of this program could have been avoided with controlled migration of the area as well as education to those migrating to the area of the agricultural environment. The negative impact was foreseen by many including some senior people in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department. In early February of 1980 J.C. Collins stated to R.Goodland that the project's harmful effects would include "deforestation, particularly of lands unsuitable for sustained agriculture, use of unsustainable agricultural production systems, and the invasion of tribal reservations”. …show more content…

This along with the difficulty in transporting goods from the most northern points of the road where soil conditions for annual crops was better resulted in the abandonment of areas that were being settled. The resulting deforestation also had a large impact on the native Indians of the region resulting in many conflicts with settlers. With an agricultural education plan in place prior to providing land lots many of these issues could have been

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